Trouble mounts for BJP's Shrikant Tyagi as Noida police file another FIR, Congress seeks criminal intimidation charges

New Delhi: The Congress and BJP continue to lock horns over a now viral video of purported party leader Shrikant Tyagi and subsequent efforts to find the absconding leader. The Noida Police on Saturday lodged a second FIR against the leader as well as detaining four of his close associates and impounding two vehicles. While Tyagi has identified himself as the national executive member of the BJP Kisan Morcha and national co-cordinator of its Yuva Samiti, party leaders insist that the accused is not a member of the party.

Gautam Buddh Nagar MP Mahesh Sharma and BJP's Noida unit chief Mahesh Gupta had recently visited the Grand Omaxe society where the conflict took place. They told the residents that Tyagi is not a member of the BJP and assured their party's support. Both the AAP and Congress have countered this claim, producing photos of Tyagi with senior BJP leaders and levelling other allegations about his involvement with the BJP.

The Congress has claimed that Tyagi is a BJP Kisan Morcha executive member who had remained constantly in touch with grass-root level workers and promoted the BJP's strategy and roadmap. He had also served as Lok Sabha 'Vistaarak' In Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency in 2019 and actively participated in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.

Tyagi had come under scrutiny earlier this week after a video of him engaging in a heated spat with a woman went viral. The row over the plantation of palm trees near his apartment in Noida saw the politician hurling abuses at the woman, and even pushing and threatening her. The residents of the society could also be seen accusing Tyagi of encroaching the area by planting small and large plants.

Tyagi was booked under Indian Penal Code section 354 (assault or use of criminal force on any woman, intending to outrage or knowing it to be likely that he will thereby outrage her modesty) on Friday over a spat with a co-resident of their housing society in Sector 93B.