A protest over the alleged vandalisation of Dr BR Ambedkar’s statue at Badhiya Kalan village in Mahilpur block of the district turned into a political confrontation on Wednesday, with leaders of the BSP and BJP coming to blows. Former Union MoS and BJP leader Vijay Sampla sustained a nose injury during the altercation.The protest had been organised by members of the SC community and BSP leaders. The situation intensified after BJP leaders, including Sampla, Punjab BJP SC Morcha president Sheetal Angural and Chabbewal in-charge Dilbag Rai, reached the spot. Protesters started raising slogans against the BJP when its leaders began interacting with the media near the site of the statue.The confrontation escalated after BJP leaders reached the stage. A heated exchange over the microphone reportedly led to a scuffle between the leaders of the two parties.Punjab BSP president Avtar Singh Karimpuri and MLA Nachhattar Pal later reached the spot. Karimpuri claimed incidents involving vandalisation of Ambedkar statues had occurred at 13 places in the state, but successive governments had failed to take effective action.Sampla accused the protesters of being “agents of the present government” and alleged that they wanted to disturb the peace. BSP leader Amandeep Singh claimed that the BJP leaders had arrived with a loudspeaker as part of a “pre-planned conspiracy”. The police subsequently managed to defuse the situation.