Screengrab of the video.

‘I’ll slap you hard’: Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) leader Nijamuddin Ansari threatens a journalist, video goes viral

The JMM leader was being interviewed by Khabramatralive reporter Ravi Bhasker when his question seemed to upset the former who angrily raised his hand at him and threatened, "I will slap you hard."

by · OpIndia

The Jharkhand assembly elections have sent political mercury surging, and the amount of accusations and charges continue to escalate every day. In the latest incident, the state unit of Bharatiya Janata Party has posted a video on 17th November while accusing Jharkhand Mukti Morcha Nijamuddin Ansari of trying to intimidate and slap a journalist.

“It seems that the entire Jharkhand Mukti Morcha is drowned in the despair of defeat. Former MLA and currently JMM candidate from Dhanwar seat Nizamuddin Ansari has become so frustrated that he has started threatening and beating the fourth pillar of democracy i.e. journalists. Just think, right now these are just candidates, if by any chance they win, then you can yourself guess how much oppression and havoc they will unleash on the people,” the saffron party shared on social media.

The JMM leader was being interviewed by Khabramatralive reporter Ravi Bhasker when his question seemed to upset the former who angrily raised his hand at him and threatened, “I will slap you hard.” The people around them then intervened and even held the reporter who protested against Ansari’s aggression and asked, “How can he slap me?”

The reporter had asked, “It looks like you are fond of Babulal Marandi (BJP’s Jharkhand unit president),” after which he tried to justify himself and claimed, “I am a revolutionary. You people don’t know about me. I have been with Guruji (Shibu Soren) since 1978. I went to JVM (Jharkhand Vikas Morcha- Prajatantrik) due to some circumstances but I couldn’t stay there even for a month. You should know that they suspended me.” JVM later merged with the BJP on 17th February 2020 in Ranchi.

However, the journalist reiterated, “You could be right but this is Dhanwar and you switched your loyalties. Niranjan Rai who recently joined the BJP did the same. Babulal Marandi formed a new party (JMM) and yet he returned to BJP. So it only leaves Rajkumar Yadav (Communist Party of India’s candidate) with a clean image,” which apparently infuriated the politician and he attempted to assault him. The journalist further accused that Ansari’s supporters even stopped him from asking questions.

The second and final phase of the Jharkhand assembly election is going to take place on 20th November and the votes will be counted on 23rd November along with the results of Maharashtra assembly poll.