Who is the BJP MLA who 'broke' the horse's leg?

BJP MLA from Mussoorie, Uttarakhand, Ganesh Joshi is in the news for allegedly thrashing a police horse and leaving "Shaktiman" bleeding with a broken leg.

On Twitter, #IsHorseAntiNational has been trending for a day now. A video purportedly showing Joshi wielding a lathi and charging towards the hapless animal from the front has been doing the rounds, which was later picked up by news channels. Pictures of the horse with its blood-soaked rear leg have also gone viral.

Who is Ganesh Joshi? A background check of the MLA tell us that he did not have a criminal case against him prior to this incident. Joshi, a two-time BJP MLA, successfully contested for the first time from Rajpur in the 2007 Uttarakhand Assembly elections. He was forced to shift to the Mussoorie constituency during the 2012 polls as Rajpur became a reserved constituency for Scheduled Castes (SC).

The MLA is considered to be a popular leader. Despite being new to Mussoorie, Joshi defeated sitting Congress MLA Jot Singh Gunsola in the anti-BJP wave.

Joshi is an ex-serviceman. Before entering the political fray, he was a soldier in 17, Garhwal Rifles from 1976 to 1983. He quit the Army due to personal problems while he was serving in Sikkim, and became a member of the BJP in 1984.

Referring to the horse injury incident, the MLA told this author that he has fallen victim to a conspiracy planned by the ruling Harish Rawat-led Congress. He says he had strongly objected to the use of mounted police against peaceful demonstrators on March 14, comparing it to the way the British Raj attacked Indians.

He expressed regret over the injury to Shaktiman, which may lead to the amputation of his rear leg, while adding that a BJP supporter was also seriously injured during the police charge. The man has supposedly been paralysed.

Joshi has also released a video on Twitter to prove his point.

Joshi said this angered the demonstrators. While the mounted police advanced towards them, he snatched away a lathi from a policeman to protect himself and charged in front of Shaktiman; the equine was hurt in its rear leg. He claimed that he never hit the horse and challenged all to come up with any video which showed him attacking the horse.

He also alleged that the video in circulation was edited to show him as the attacker. While the first portion shows him charging towards the horse, the second shows the horse falling down, he said, adding that the middle and a crucial part was missing. He posted another tweet to buttress his case and extricate himself from the controversy.

Joshi is not new to controversies. Before his first election in 2007, he says, his rivals in the BJP spread a canard alleging that he had deserted the Army. He fought back and got a former superior, Colonel SS Rajwar, to hold a press conference and defend him.

Over the phone, Col Rajwar, who retired from the Army in 1994, said he was a major and a company commander of 17, Garhwal Rifles when Joshi was discharged from service. He rubbished all claims of Joshi deserting the Army, and said he was discharged on compassionate grounds.

"Joshi was properly discharged from service. It was a pre-matured discharge after he cited some personal problems like indisposition of his father," he said.

Is Joshi guilty of maiming the horse? He may plead innocence as much as he wants, but on social media a judgment has already been pronounced.