The Bharatiya Janata Party office in Imphal was vandalised on Wednesday, three days before the first phase of the state Assembly elections. While BJP officials had told PTI that the mob consisted of volunteers of Kangleipak Students Association, the party has blamed the Congress for the incident.

The mob had demanded to meet the BJP leaders, PTI reported. However, upon seeing no one at the office, they damaged the furniture and broke windows in the office. Himanta Biswa Sarma, senior BJP leader and convener of the North East Democratic Alliance, claimed that a mob of around 70 Congress workers had destroyed the office, reported Times Now.

He said their party workers were physically assaulted in the incident. He claimed that the police did not act during the violence, instead stood as “mute spectators”, adding that a First Information Report had been filed in connection with the incident.

The two-phase Assembly elections in the state will be held on March 4 and March 8. The results will be declared on March 11.