Congressmen clash with copsduring MNREGS march

Lucknow: Scores of Congress workers, attempting to march to the UP State Assembly under the ‘MNREGS Bachao Sangram' banner, were stopped by police barricading on Monday, leading to a clash between the two sides and leaving several workers and party's state chief Ajay Rai injured. The police also detained the Congress workers. Since early morning, heavy police deployment and multiple layers of barricading sealed off roads leading to the state Assembly and the Congress office. Senior party functionaries claimed that workers travelling from different parts of the state were stopped at district borders and on highways, but many managed to evade restrictions and assemble in sizeable numbers.As protesters tried to move towards the Assembly, raising slogans against the BJP-led state govt, scuffles broke out between party workers and security personnel.Eyewitnesses said the situation turned tense when demonstrators attempted to climb over barricades. Police resorted to a lathicharge to disperse the crowd, leading to injuries on both sides. Ajay Rai was among those who sustained injuries, the party said, sharing visuals of the clash on social media.Senior leaders, including Avinash Pande, Ajay Rai, Rajya Sabha Deputy Leader of Opposition Pramod Tiwari, Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra and MP Tanuj Punia, were detained and taken in buses to a temporary jail at Eco Garden. Several district and frontal organisation leaders were also taken into preventive custody, party sources said.Addressing workers before being detained, Avinash Pande described MGNREGA as ‘the backbone of rural India's economic framework'.