Tyagi community holds 'mahapanchayat' in support of jailed politician in Noida, targets BJP

noida: The Tyagi community held a 'mahapanchayat' in Uttar Pradesh's Noida on Sunday expressing support for jailed politician Shrikant Tyagi who has been booked for assaulting a woman and misusing state government symbols on his car.

A banner displayed at the entry of Gejha village, where the congregation was held, read, "Humare gaon mein BJP netaon ka pravesh band hai (entry of BJP politicians is prohibited in our village."

The congregation started around 10 am at the Ramlila ground in the village on the call of locals even as hundreds of community members from parts of western Uttar Pradesh like Ghaziabad, Muzaffarnagar, Bulandshahr, Baghpat, Saharanpur, Bijnor, Agra and Hapur reached here for the programme.

Shrikant Tyagi was arrested on August 9 from Meerut after he remained absconding for four days since assaulting and abusing a woman co-resident of his Grand Omaxe society in Sector 93B.

Until he went underground on August 5, Tyagi had claimed to be a BJP functionary but the party had denied any links with him. Tyagi's wife Annu also attended the 'mahapanchayat' briefly, being held in her native Gejha village, and claimed the whole episode was a conspiracy hatched by Gautam Buddh Nagar MP and BJP leader Mahesh Sharma.

"I was tortured by police and the administration on instructions from Sharma. I request Prime Minister Narendra Modi, UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath and the UP Police to investigate this conspiracy against my family," Annu Tyagi said.

She said what her husband did with the woman was "wrong" but the police actions against him are also "unjustified".

"Unnecessary charges should be dropped against him immediately," she said.

Pawan Tyagi, who identified himself as spokesperson of the Tyagi-Brahmin Association, said Shrikant had misbehaved with the woman as a result of a society-level conflict. "Whatever charges are appropriate for that case, he must be punished accordingly. But if you press Goonda Act or Gangsters Act in such a case, is this justified? Second, his wife Annu, who is attending today's 'mahapanchayat', was detained by police and the family harassed by ways of power cut etc," he told reporters.