Jaipur: Thousands of villagers gheraoed a ruling party MLA and pressurised him to join their protest against a proposed atomic power plant in Rajasthan`s Banswara district, an official said Monday.
The MLA Arjun Singh was later allowed to go after he wrote a letter to Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot requesting him to address their demand.
"Villagers of Bari area gheraoed the vehicle of Banswara constituency MLA Arjun Singh late last night and took him inside the village. They then demanded from him to join their protest against the proposed power plant in the area," District Collector K B Gupta said.
"The MLA was then asked to sit inside a room of a former minister Dalichand Maida, who is leading the protest, and thousands of armed villagers were gathered outside," he said. They all were not ready to allow him to go without his written assurance. Police force also rushed to the spot but the villagers manhandled a police inspector and also damaged a vehicle.
"After rounds of talks, the MLA wrote a letter to the Chief Minister requesting him to cancel the power plant project in the interest of local people," the Collector said. "He gave a copy to `Sangharsh Samiti` of the villagers and the other copy to us. We will forward it the Chief Minister," he said.
"After he wrote the letter, the locals allowed him to go," he said. The MLA could not be contacted for comments.
PTI