TV channel office vandalised after political leader dropped from 'Bigg Boss'!

Mumbai, Aug 19 (IANS) Furious at their leader Ramdas Athavale being dropped from the reality show "Big Boss-II", hundreds of Republican Party of India (RPI) workers Tuesday ransacked the office of Colours television channel and blocked the road outside.

The parliamentarian's supporters barged into the offices of the newly opened channel in Andheri East and broke windowpanes, damaged furniture and fittings inside and outside the premises.

About 500 RPI workers staged a roadblock outside the office on the busy Andheri-Kurla road, which leads to the airport, and also burnt an effigy of actor Shilpa Shetty who is hosting the show. Shetty had won Britain's version of the show last year.

According to RPI's Mumbai district president Vivek Pawar, the channel called Athavale on Aug 16 and then suddenly rejected him without assigning any reason.

"We feel that he has been rejected mainly because he belongs to a Scheduled Caste," Pawar told IANS, alleging sectarian bias.

Two people have been arrested on charges of rioting.

"Bigg Boss-II" features a group of mostly celebrities confined to a house for three months with no contact with the outside world. The house has 32 cameras for 24 hour surveillance, condensed into a one-hour episode for television.

Amongst the participants this time are politicians Sanjay Nirupam and Rahul Mahajan, son of late Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Pramod Mahajan, as well as gangster Abu Salem's partner Monica Bedi.

• Television