Massive clash breaks out in UP's Jaunpur after man wipes shoes with BJP flag

A man in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur saw a cloth lying on the ground when he picked it up to wipe his shoes. The cloth turned out to be a BJP flag and this led to clashes on Sunday morning.

police lathicharge — UP Police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob.Representational image | IANS

A major clash broke out at a polling booth on Sunday morning in Uttar Pradesh's Jaunpur when BJP supporters saw a man wiping his shoes with their party flag. According to reports, a party flag was lying near a tree when the man picked it up and wiped his shoes with it. A BJP supporter saw this and hurled abuses at the man.

As the BJP supporters came together to beat up the man, others joined and the police resorted to lathi-charge to disperse the mob that had collected there.

Polling was not disrupted at the polling station. Uttar Pradesh is conducting its polls in seven phases. 14 constituencies are going to the polls in the sixth phase of the general elections.

The Uttar Pradesh constituencies that are going to the polls are Sultanpur, Pratapgarh, Phulpur, Allahabad, Ambedkar Nagar, Shrawasti, Domariyaganj, Basti, Sant Kabir Nagar, Lalganj, Azamgarh, Jaunpur, Machhlishahr, and Bhadohi.

The Bharatiya Janata Party won 13 of these 14 constituencies in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. The only exception was Azamgarh, won then by SP founder Mulayam Singh Yadav.

(With inputs from agencies)