AGRA: In a controversial statement, National Commission for Scheduled Caste (NCSC) chairman and BJP candidate for Lok Sabha elections from Etawah Ram Shankar Katheria on Thursday said that they would break any finger that is raised against the party or its workers.Katheria, who was addressing party workers in Etawah, made these remarks in connections with the “false cases” registered against party supporters under the previous regimes. “We are in power in the state and the centre and will break any finger that is raised against us now,” he said.Katheria has been fielded from Etawah after he was replaced by SP Singh Baghel in his present constituency of Agra. Katheria told TOI that he had made this statement to boost the morale of the workers who have faced harassment at the hands of SP and BSP during their previous regimes.He said, “unke liye koi ungli bhi uthayega to ungli bhi todi jayegi aur aankh bhi dikhayega to aankh ka samna bhi ankh se kiya jayega. Aur har sukh dukh me kandhe se kandha milakar chalne ka aapko vachan deta hun (If anyone raises a finger against you, we will break those fingers and if anyone dares to show eyes, we will respond in the same manner. I promise to be with you in every situation)”.Expressing happiness on his nomination from Etawah, Katheria said it’s a homecoming for him. “My janambhoomi will now be my karambhoomi”, he said.He said that in 2009 elections, he was among the 10 MPs from BJP elected from the state, but Mayawati did not want him to become the MP and had held back his certificates. He said that he managed to get them and became the MP.Attacking Mayawati, Katheria, said that she was the person who had lodged 29 false cases against him and wanted to send him behind bars, but could not scare him off in any manner.Dubbing the SP-BSP-RLD alliance as “Swarth ka bandhan” (opportunist) Katheria said that after the elections, their leaders will start accusing each other for their debacle.Etawah is a reserved constituency and has been the turf of Samajwadi Party. It is presently held by BJP’s Ashok Kumar Dohre, who defeated Samajwadi Party candidate in the last Lok Sabha polls by 1.72 lakh votes.

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