Ghaziabad, Jun 30 (PTI) After BJP workers and anti-farm law protesters clashed in Ghazipur border, BKU national spokesperson Rakesh Tikait on Wednesday accused the BJP of hatching a conspiracy to flare-up caste-based riots.

According to a statement released by the Bharatiya Kisan Union (BKU), Tikait said the BJP workers showed black flags to the farmers' leaders and used abusive language.

Meanwhile, a group of Balmiki Samaj members rendered their support to protest against the agri laws, the statement added.

The clash occurred when the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) workers were carrying out a procession on a flyway where the protesters, chiefly supporters of the BKU, have been camping since November 2020, according to eye-witnesses.

A scuffle broke between the members of the two sides on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway around noon and soon they were attacking each other with sticks which led to injuries to some people, they said.

While the farmers alleged that the episode was a conspiracy of the BJP and the RSS to quell the seven-month-old protest, the ruling party workers claimed that abuses and casteist slurs were hurled against them when they were taking out a welcome procession for the newly-appointed BJP general secretary Amit Valmiki that led to the clash.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)