Shivpal Yadav terms stone pelting at his motorcade 'a conspiracy by BJP'

Saifai (Uttar Pradesh) [India], Feb. 19 (ANI): As the third phase of Uttar Pradesh assembly elections concluded with 61.16 percent voter turnout, Samajwadi Party leader Shivpal Yadav on Sunday blamed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the stone pelting incident during his motorcade that took place in Jaswantnagar city. Shivpal said, "The attack on the motorcade was a conspiracy by a BJP candidate from Jaswantnagar." The incident took place earlier today at Etawah district's Katiapur village. Shivpal also informed that people were lathicharged by the police during the voting process, without any specific reason. "Everything was proceeding smoothly in Jaswantnagar. The pooling was taking place peacefully but, the police baton charged people without any reason. Women, children suffered injuries. There was no commotion during the polls process, yet they were lathicharged. The district administration is to be blamed," he said. Jaswantnagar is considered to be the stronghold of the ruling Samajwadi Party. Shivpal Yadav has been elected four times from the constituency. Earlier, the Samajwadi party patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav used to contest from the Jaswantnagar constituency. With over 826 candidates from 105 political parties contesting for 69 seats, polling began on Sunday morning for the crucial third phase of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly Elections. The districts that went to polls in this phase are Farrukhabad, Hardoi, Kannauj, Mainpuri, Etawah, Kanpur, Kanpur Dehat, Auraiya, Lucknow, Unnao, Sitapur and Barabanki. (ANI)