New Delhi:
Congressional leader Rahul Gandhi was pushed and fell to the ground in a fight with Uttar Pradesh police after he, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and dozens of party workers were prevented from marching on the Delhi-Noida highway in his way to Hathras to meet the police. family of gang rape victim who died Tuesday.
The Gandhis were arrested for violating the ban on large gatherings. “I am standing here in peace. Then I will go alone. I will walk alone from here to Hathras,” Rahul Gandhi told police.
The footage showed the congressman being pushed and shoved as he tried to resist the police. In the crash, the 50-year-old man was seen falling to the ground. Other congressional leaders helped him up.
Priyanka Gandhi alleged that she was also pushed and there were attempts to throw her to the ground.
“Why am I being arrested? What are the reasons for the arrest? What law am I breaking,” Rahul Gandhi said in a heated exchange with police officers, who said they were charging him with “Section 188,” a law about defying orders officers.
Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were traveling to Hathras in a convoy when their vehicles were stopped in Noida, near Delhi, at a point about 142 km from their destination.
They both got out of the car and began to march with the congressional workers. Soon, a large contingent of UP policemen blocked their path and tried to push them back.
Congressional leader Randeep Surjewala said: “The Gandhis are preparing to march alone. What is Ajay Singh Bisht, aka Yogi Adityanath (Chief Minister) afraid of?”
Ahead of the planned visit by congressional leaders, the UP administration this morning imposed a ban on large gatherings and placed barricades on the borders citing the coronavirus. The roads to Hathras were also blocked.
.