Pune: Union home minister Amit Shah’s visit to Pune on Aug 1 may lead to a face-off with Congress workers calling an agitation to protest Delhi police action at Jantar Mantar during the CJP protest last week and BJP warning that it would hold a counter-stir in such a case.Shah is expected to confer the Lokmanya Tilak National award to national security adviser Ajit Doval on Aug 1 in the city. Congress has decided to use the opportunity to take up the issue of police action against the Jantar Mantar protesters who were then demanding the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Union education minister.The Pune unit of Congress has sought police permission to stage a protest at Seven Loves Chowk on Saturday. Meanwhile, Pune unit chief of BJP Dheeraj Ghate met police commissioner Amitesh Kumar and submitted a letter, urging him not to grant permission to Congress.Ghate said, “The Union home minister is coming to Pune for the Lokmanya Tilak Award ceremony. It is not a political visit. But Congress is trying to politicise the issue by announcing an agitation against him. We will give a befitting reply if they try to create a ruckus.” BJP warned of a counter-agitation at Seven Loves Chowk if Congress went ahead with its stir on Saturday.Congress’s Pune east chief Prashant Jagtap said, “Our party accepts BJP’s challenge and we are ready for a showdown. Our party is raising its voice against the police brutality against the protesters in Delhi for which Amit Shah is responsible.”If BJP and Congress go ahead with their protests on Aug 1, it would be a repeat of a similar face-off between the two parties three years ago on the same day in Pune. Lokmanya Tilak National Award was conferred on Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Aug 1, 2023, and Congress party workers had protested against the PM with BJP countering the opposition.
