Stay away from Ballia incident: BJP chief JP Nadda warns party MLA who backed key accused

The BJP President dialled Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Swatantra Dev Singh and expressed his displeasure over remarks made by MLA Surendra Singh on Ballia firing incident.

ANI photo

NEW DELHI: Disturbed over the controversial statement passed by Uttar Pradesh BJP MLA Surendra Singh on the firing incident in Ballia, the top leadership of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) cracked a whip on the party leader asking him to refrain from making any further controversial remark on the matter. The top brass also reportedly asked the leader to distance himself from the matter. 

ANI sources said that BJP party president JP Nadda dialled party's Uttar Pradesh chief Swatantra Dev Singh and expressed his displeasure over MLA Surendra Singh on the Ballia incident. According to sources, the BJP chief asked Swatantra Dev Singh to instruct the MLA to keep himself away from the Ballia firing incident. 

The BJP's warning to the MLA comes days after his aide Dhirendra Pratap Singh allegedly gunned down a 46-year-old man, over dispute on shops allocation, during a panchayat meeting in the presence of the police at Durjanpur village. The incident took place on October 15. 

Singh, who had openly defended the accused Dhirendra Singh, claimed that the true account of the incident was not being presented by the media. The BJP MLA, who represents the Bairia Assembly constituency in Ballia district, had said that Dhirendra had fired in self-defence. 

 "I would like to appeal to the district administration of Ballia not to take one-sided action," Surendra Singh had said, defending the accused.

Surendra Singh also visited the Revati police station in Ballia and demanded that an FIR should be registered based on the application moved by Dhirendra Singh's female relatives who, he alleged, sustained injuries in stone-pelting during the Oct 15 incident.