Date:30/08/2002 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2002/08/30/stories/2002083006500100.htm

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Congress, BJP on the warpath

By Sandeep Joshi

A policewoman restraining an angry Mahila Congress activist after a scuffle with the BJP Mahila Morcha outside the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's residence in New Delhi on Thursday. — PTI

NEW DELHI AUG. 29. Political rivalry between the Congress and the BJP took an ugly turn here today with activists of both parties clashing outside each other's headquarters and rival leaders later accusing each other of indulging in violence.

Trouble erupted around 1.30 p.m. when some BJP Mahila Morcha activists led by Kanta Nalwade came to the10 Janpath residence of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and started raising slogans accusing the Congress of ``abetting criminalisation of politics''.

The sudden offensive took the Congress workers by surprise though they were very much around at 24 Akbar Road, only a few metres away from the scene of actionMeanwhile, several Congress workers accompanied by their senior leaders, including Ambika Soni, Oscar Fernandes and Mukul Wasnik, rushed towards 10 Janpath and tried to counter the BJP offensive. Soon it became a free-for-all with Congress and BJP workers hurling stones at each other.

As the news spread, Congress workers and Youth Congress activists gathered at the party headquarters raising anti-BJP slogans. Minutes later, the action shifted to the BJP headquarters at 11 Ashoka Road as a large number of Congress workers trooped in shouting slogans. Some of them even tried to barge into the premises but were stopped by security guards.