BJP workers clash with police in Jharkhand during protest, section 144 imposed.

In Ranchi, clashes broke out between the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers and the state police on Tuesday as water cannons and lathi-charge was used against BJP workers as they in a protest against the Hemant Soren government attempted to march towards the Jharkhand Secretariat.

The Jharkhand police has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPc), officials said.

“Prohibitory orders under Section 144 of CrPC were imposed in the area from the Project Building campus to Dhurwa Square. The orders were promulgated at 8 am and will continue till late evening. If need be, the prohibitory orders will be further extended,” Ranchi Deputy Commissioner Rahul Sinha said.

He said that barricades have been set up in the area as well as police personnel and fire brigades has been deployed. The march towards the Jharkhand Secreteriat was organised as a part of BJP’s programed to demonstrate against the “deteriorating law and order, prevailing corruption and high rate of unemployment” in the state.

The Jharkhand BJP from its official Twitter handle shared a video showing the clash and wrote, “Change the throne, change the crown, change the rule of the dishonest.” The party said that the state government will not be able to crush their movement by the use of muscle power.

Terming the Jharkhand government as “anti-people”, it said that each and every BJP worker is determined to uproot the administration. “The Hemant government wants to suppress the peaceful protests by the BJP with the help of police lathis, but the BJP workers are not afraid of their cowardly act, they will fight even more strongly to overthrow this government,” it tweeted.

State BJP president and MP Deepak Prakash said that it was time to show the “exit gate” to the Hemant government. He said the party selected the state secretariat to hold the protest as it is the place where the Chief Minister takes “wrong decisions and bureaucrats follow them”.