Bhopal, Sept. 1: Congress general secretary Digvijay Singh today needed two stitches on the head after being hit, allegedly with police batons, during a protest against the BJP government’s failure to tackle drought.

Ironically, the alleged police blow during the march in Rajgarh, Digvijay’s home district, came a day after he praised chief minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan for controlling soaring sugar prices by cracking down on hoarders.

This is the first time Digvijay has been injured while leading an agitation at home, where he is revered as the former raja of Raghogarh.

In November 2000, a Congress worker loyal to party rival V.C. Shukla had hit Digvijay during a protest against the creation of Chhattisgarh, carved out of Madhya Pradesh. The incident had occurred in Raipur, then in Madhya Pradesh.

Rajgarh police chief Asha Mathur claimed some “miscreants” among the 2,000-odd protesters pelted the police with stones and one of them hit Digvijay. But Congress leaders alleged that Digvijay was hit during a lathicharge.