BJP man caught on camera hitting an ‘injured’ Tribal man with slippers in MP

BJP Youth wing leader from Madhya Pradesh Jai Ganesh Dixit was caught on camera trashing an elderly tribal man with slippers. The video has gone viral drawing widespread criticism for the saffron party. The incident was reported from Annupur in the poll-bound state. The elderly tribal man was reportedly injured in an accident and even in that state, he was seen being assaulted by Jai Ganesh Dixit.

The Yuva Morcha leader later claimed that he kicked the man in order to "help him gain consciousness”. His bizarre reasoning couldn’t cut ice with his own party, so Dixit was expelled from the party. He is now on the run. The tribal man has been identified as 57-year-old Barnu Singh. In the video, he could be seen sitting next to a body lying on the road.

Police claim, that Barnu Singh and Bhoma Singh, both residents of Picharwahi of Rajendra Gram police station area, were on their way to Anuppur on their bike on Sunday when they met with an accident. They collided with another vehicle killing Bhoma Singh on the spot. The BJP Yuva Morcha leader Ganesh Dixit had reached the spot along with other locals. Police haven’t confirmed why the BJYM leader had lost his cool and why he started hitting the elderly man with slippers.

Opposition parties have reacted sharply calling it “the real face of BJP”. Congress leader and former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, Kamal Nath held the BJP state government responsible for the “rise in cases of atrocities against tribals” in Madhya Pradesh.

"Shivraj Singh Chauhan, you cannot ignore this gruesome video. Next to the dead body of a tribal man in Anuppur district, a Bharatiya Janata Party leader is seen beating another tribal man with slippers. Bharatiya Janata Party is becoming a party of tribal atrocities in Madhya Pradesh. After all, what do you want? When you cannot stop atrocities on tribals then at least resign from the post of Chief Minister. The hypocrisy of washing feet cannot atone for your cruel power.”, wrote Kamal Nath on X.

Slamming the incident, TMC called it BJP’s double standard. "No matter how much the BJP speaks about their love for tribals, the way atrocities against Adivasi communities are increasing in BJP-ruled states cannot be seen anywhere else in the country.. the video that emerged today where we can see a BJP leader torturing an Adivasi in Madhya Pradesh. I condemn the incident in the strongest words”, said Barbara Hansda, TMC minister and a prominent tribal face from Bengal.

This comes months after a video from Madhya Pradesh had surfaced in July this year, where a man was seen urinating on the face of a Tribal man. The accused was identified as Pravesh Shukla, alleged to be a BJP worker. Soon after that, CM Shivraj Singh Chauhan was seen washing the feet of the same man, as was claimed by him, as a mark of penance. Elections are slated to happen in Madhya Pradesh later this year and the opposition has been targeting the BJP government over such atrocities on tribals who number roughly 15 million in the state's total population. STs and SCs constitute 17 percent and 21 percent respectively of the state's population. The state assembly has 47 tribal seats and 35 reserved seats, which put together is more than one-third of the total 230 seats of the state assembly.​