The Uttar Pradesh Police has invoked the National Security Act against former minister and Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Mukesh Siddharth after his controversial statement threatening to set ablaze Minister of State for Energy, Somendra Tomar. Siddharth had allegedly threatened to “set the BJP leader ablaze”, news agency IANS reported.


Following the incident, Siddharth was promptly sent to the district jail in Meerut on January 8. Shedding light on the decision to invoke the NSA, Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Rohit Singh Sajwan explained that Siddharth had issued threats during a public gathering. The invocation of the NSA, approved by the district magistrate, was deemed necessary to prevent any potential law-and-order issues in the district arising from Siddharth's provocative remarks, Sajwan explained.


Mukesh Siddharth was produced in a Meerut court soon after, which sent him to 14-day judicial custody, Senior Superintendent of Police Rohit Singh Sajwan told the news agency PTI.


Meanwhile, while talking to reporters after coming out of the court, Siddharth reiterated his point and said, "I stand by my words. I will not take back my words even if 100 cases are filed against me." "I will continue to serve the Bahujan community, for this, I am ready to bear any oppression," Mukesh Siddharth, a former vice-chairman of the Uttar Pradesh Commission for Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes, was quoted by PTI.


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While protesting at the Collectorate on Saturday regarding the reported assault on Dalit councillors from opposition parties during a Meerut Municipal Corporation Board meeting, Siddharth made a provocative statement against Minister of State for Energy, Tomar. A video of his purported statement during the protest gained widespread attention on social media.


In the video, the SP leader can be heard allegedly saying that "if Minister of State Somendra Tomar is not arrested by January 10, then his house should be burned, his car should be burned, he should be burned."