In the line of protests, state BJP says ‘not in favour of Bill in its present form’

Party headquarters attacked with shoes, eggs; road blocked

Striking government employees laid seize to the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) state headquarters on Wednesday, and pelted stones, shoes, eggs and tomatoes, even as a party spokesperson said the state BJP was against reservation in promotions. "The BJP's UP unit understands the sentiments of government employees," he said in a statement.

State BJP president Laxmikant Bajpai said the people in UP were not in favour of the constitutional amendment Bill in its present form and the party had communicated this to the central leadership. "The employees will be pacified after the BJP clears its stand on the issue in the Lok Sabha," he said. At the same time, Bajpai said that the employees who were targetting the BJP office had the backing of the Samajwadi Party government. The employees had the democratic right to protest but they should maintain decorum, he added.

He appealed to the employees to hold demonstrations at SP office to mount pressure on the party leaders to withdraw their support to the UPA government.

This was the third consecutive day when the employees targetted the BJP office and today was the worst. They blocked access to the BJP office almost the whole day and burnt effigies of its central leaders. Seeing the aggression of the protesters, the entrances to the party office were locked all day and leaders kept a distance from the office till evening.

Police and PAC personnel were deployed, but they remained mute spectators to the protests. Senior administration and police officials visited the spot, but they left without making any attempt to disperse the employees and reopen the road in front of the BJP office.

In government offices also, the impact of the seven-day strike was much more today, as employees of the collectorate, and various departments joined the demonstration. Secretariat employees blocked the road opposite Bapu Bhawan in the morning.

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