BJP leaders have vociferously defended one of its legislators’ alleged brutality against a horse in Uttarakhand on Monday.
A horse deployed as part of mounted police was injured during a protest march by BJP to the state assembly in Dehradun on Monday.
Video of the BJP MLA from Mussoorie Ganesh Joshi mercilessly thrashing the horse had gone viral.
However, corned by widespread criticism, the MLA has now denied ever causing injuries to the animal despite there being a conclusive video evidence to establish the crime.
Joshi told Times Now, “The horse was standing without any water for so long and it was because of that reason that the animal collapsed not because of my hitting.”
On social media, the saffron party’s social media head, Amit Malviya too made light of the incident by saying, “‘Senior’ journalist who once wrote about his afternoon meetings with the PM, is now left flogging an injured horse to get back at the BJP!”
'Senior' journalist who once wrote about his afternoon meetings with the PM, is now left flogging an injured horse to get back at the BJP!
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) March 15, 2016
The incident, as reported by PTI, took place during BJP’s march against “corruption and poor law and order” to the state assembly which was stopped at barricades put up by Uttarakhand police near Ripsana bridge, a few metres from the state assembly premises.
Hours after the incident, two videos, one of them purportedly showing the horse’s broken hind leg and the other showing the BJP legislator from Mussoorie attacking the horse with a lathi from the front, went viral sparking an allegation by Chief Minister Harish Rawat’s media in-charge Surendra Kumar that the animal had “fallen a victim to Joshi’s cruelty”.