Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel has said that calling someone else a ‘gunda’ (goon) in front of senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agrawal is an insult to the word itself.

Talking to reporters here on Friday, Baghel was reacting to an alleged incident of assault on Agrawal.

Agarwal, a seven-term MLA from Raipur City South assembly seat, on Thursday alleged that he was assaulted when he was campaigning in his constituency in the capital Raipur.

After the alleged incident, several BJP leaders and workers sat on a dharna at Kotwali police station in the city demanding action.

Asked about the incident, Baghel told reporters on Friday, “The first thing is that no one can attack Brijmohan Agarwal. In the video of the alleged incident that has come to the fore, he (Agrawal) himself is seen pushing.” The CM said the episode indicates that “Seth ji (Agrawal) is lagging behind in the elections”.

Baghel further said, “Calling someone else a gunda in front of Brijmohan is an insult to the word gunda.” The CM exuded confidence over the victory of Congress candidates in Raipur City South as well as Rajnandgaon, where ex-CM Raman Singh was BJP’s nominee. “Let’s just see who loses by a bigger margin,” he wrote on X.

Congress has fielded Mahant Ram Sundar Das, chief priest of the famous Dudhadhari Math of Raipur, against incumbent Agarwal from Raipur City South.

On Thursday, Agrawal had claimed that some people tried to assault him by holding his collar when he was campaigning in Baijnath Para in his constituency.

Terming the incident a well-planned and targeted incident, he had claimed that those who allegedly attacked him were aides of (Congress leader and Raipur mayor) Ajaz Dhebar and his brother Anwar Dhebar.

Police said, a man identified as Mohammad Sajid Khan, alias Chintu, was arrested on Friday in connection with the incident. Since the case was registered under bailable offences, the accused was released on a bail bond, they said.

While the first phase of elections for the 90-member state assembly was held on November 7 in 20 constituencies, the remaining seats will see voting in the second phase on November 17.

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