Delhi MLA O.P. Sharma 'attacks' student, BJP says he was attacked first

The BJP's Delhi legislator Om Prakash Sharma allegedly attacked a JNU student at a city court on Monday. The BJP backed Sharma, saying he was opposing anti-India slogans and was hit on the head first, to which he reacted.

The Aam Aadmi Party condemned the attack and demanded strict action against the Bharatiya Janata Party leader. However, the Delhi BJP state unit backed Sharma, saying "he did nothing wrong".

Delhi BJP's media convenor Praveen Shankar Kapoor said Sharma was not a "badmash" (anti-social element) and he did nothing wrong.

"According to Sharma's version to the party, people present in the court premises misbehaved with him first and raised anti-India slogans. When he opposed, a person attacked him on his head and then he (Sharma) reacted," Kapoor told IANS.

"Going by his account, I don't think he did anything wrong. Delhi BJP stands with him," Kapoor added.

Earlier, Sharma was embroiled in a controversy for allegedly passing derogatory remarks on AAP legislator from Chandni Chowk, Alka Lamba.

Lamba said Sharma's act of beating a JNU student exposed his mentality.

"Earlier on August 9, he planned an attack on me when I was conducting an anti-drug campaign near Kashmere Gate Inter-State Bus Terminal. After that, he passed derogatory remarks on me in the Delhi assembly and broke the mike for which he was fined as well," Lamba told IANS.

"Today's (Monday) act exposed his mentality. He should be arrested immediately and an FIR should be registered against him," she said. "He should not walk free just because BJP is in power."

The AAP also condemned the attack, saying the BJP was deliberately creating an atmosphere of terror and chaos in Delhi.

"The AAP appeals to all residents of the national capital to peacefully reject all attempts by the BJP and its affiliated organisations to destroy the democratic values of the country," the AAP said in a statement.

Four journalists, including one from IANS, and some JNU students and teachers were assaulted by a section of lawyers on Monday at a city court.

The incident took place just before the president of the Jawaharlal Nehru University Students Union (JNUSU), Kanhaiya Kumar, who has been arrested on charges of sedition, was to be brought to the court.