Shrikant episode haunts Yogi govt as Tyagi community announces to 'boycott BJP' in Khatauli by-election

The Tyagi community has announced its decision to “boycott BJP” in the upcoming by-election for the Khatauli Assembly seat in Uttar Pradesh, which will be held on December 5.

The move by the community comes in wake of the recent arrest of Shrikant Tyagi, a former BJP member, and the alleged “ill-treatment” of his family by the Uttar Pradesh Police. 

Mangeram Tyagi, president of Tyagi-Brahmin-Bhumihar Morcha, said on Sunday: "It is a unanimous decision. We assembled in this village, with a sizable Tyagi population, to ask the entire community to stay away from the ruling party. We can never forget how the party treated Shrikant and his family."

Deepak Kumar Tyagi, who was also at the meeting, added: "BJP got almost 99 per cent of our community’s vote in the past and in return, they only harassed our people. The meeting was aimed to bring all our people on one platform."

In August this year, Shrikant Tyagi, who claimed to be a BJP member, was booked for allegedly abusing and physically assaulting a woman in Grand Omaxe housing complex of Noida’s Section 93-B. He was arrested on charges of molestation, rioting, cheating, and under relevant sections of the Gansters Act. He was granted bail by the Allahabad High Court on October 17. 

He had sparked nationwide outrage when he was seen in a widely circulated video heckling and abusing a woman resident at his apartment complex. 

The police crackdown on him and the demolishing of an unauthorised portion of his apartment in the complex was followed by protests by the Tyagi community. On August 21, a ‘Mahapanchayat` was held in Noida in support of Shrikant.

The Khatauli Assembly seat in Muzaffarnagar district fell vacant following BJP MLA Vikram Singh Saini’s disqualification after being convicted in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots. Polling on the seat will take place on December 5 and counting for the by poll will take place on December 8.