Corporator thrashed for opposing tribute to Atal Bihari Vajpayee

Aurangabad, Aug 18: BJP corporators on Friday thrashed a Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul Muslimeen (MIM) member who opposed a resolution in the municipal corporation to pay tributes to former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The assault happened during the general body meeting of the civic body, an official said. After the meeting began, BJP corporator Raju Vaidya tabled a proposal to pay tributes to Vajpayee. MIM corporator Sayed Mateen opposed it, which infuriated the BJP members, who rushed to him and thrashed him in the House.

A video of Mateen being kicked, punched and slapped by the BJP corporators has gone viral on social media and was aired by some TV channels.

In it, the Corporation security officials can be seen coming to Mateen's rescue and taking him out of the House through a side exit. He was later taken to a nearby hospital.

A BJP corporator said the MIM member has been creating nuisance and had earlier opposed singing of the national song in the House.

Mateen told PTI that he was opposing the move of paying tribute (to Vajpayee) in a "democratic manner" but around a dozen BJP corporators assaulted him. He named some of them.

Immediately after the incident, alleged MIM supporters damaged a car belonging to a local BJP functionary and also beat up the driver.

BJP corporator Pramod Rathod, who was named by Mateen as one of his assaulters, demanded that Mateen be expelled from the civic body for his "anti-national" move in opposing a tribute to Vajpayee.