Taking to the streets for the first time since the Covid-19 shutdown was imposed in March, Congressional leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were prevented on Thursday from going to the village of teenage girl Hathras Dalit, who died after they she was brutally assaulted and allegedly attacked. by upper caste men. Their cavalcade stopped along the way, after which they started walking, only to be arrested by the Uttar Pradesh police.
The dramatic images of Rahul walking with over a hundred party workers, falling during a fight with police personnel, and both he and Priyanka, the congressional general secretary in charge of Uttar Pradesh, being carried away in a police vehicle were one strong signal, aimed at both the ranks of the big party and others, who have been urging the Gandhis to take a more practical role.
UP Police offered them that opportunity on a platter Thursday. Several opposition leaders rallied behind the Gandhis and criticized the state government, even when the BJP called it a photoshoot.
The opposition, particularly Congress, has been accused of not being visible on the ground. Many in Congress have also been arguing that it is time for leaders to “get out of the Twitter world” and take to the streets. During the confinement, Rahul had gone out only once to meet the migrants.
Rahul and Priyanka left for Hathras around 12:30 pm, along with congressional leaders Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Randeep Surjewala and the head of the Sushmita Dev party women’s wing, among others, after a meeting with Sonia Gandhi. “We knew we would not be allowed. We were prepared, ”one of the top leaders told The Indian Express.
At 1.30 pm, the cavalcade stopped at the Yamuna Highway, and the Gandhis said they would walk to Hathras, more than 140 km away. “That message had to be given, that we will not back down,” said a leader who was part of his team.
Congressional leader Rahul Gandhi during the fight between his party leaders and the police near the Yamuna Highway on Thursday.
When the UP Police physically prevented them from advancing about an hour later, with Rahul falling into the tumult, the congressional leader went ahead, demanding to know under what rule they were arresting him. When a police officer cited Section 188 of the IPC (disobedience to an order issued by a public servant), Rahul asked him to explain the provision. When the police officer said Section 144 was in place, he said, “I’m not going to violate 144. I want to go alone.” He told reporters: “I want to ask, can only Modiji walk in this country? Can’t a normal person walk?
Noida ADCP Ranvijay Singh later said that a case had been registered under Section 188 of the IPC and the Epidemic Diseases Act against Rahul and Priyanka. He denied that there was a lathicharge charge and added that they could not have let the congressional leaders proceed to Hathras because Section 144 was imposed there. On Rahul’s statement that he was ready to go to Hathras alone, the ADCP said: “Rahul Gandhi cannot go anywhere without his security cover, which means there will be more than five people.”
The teenager’s village was completely entrenched by the police starting Thursday morning, with outsiders, including journalists, not being allowed until late at night. Only the SIT was formed to investigate the case, the DM and the SDM were inside the village with the family.
Amid widespread outrage over the alleged theft and murder of a Dalit woman from Hathras, the vehicles of Congressional leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who were on their way to Hathras to meet the victim’s family, were stopped in the Great Noida of Uttar Pradesh on Thursday. They were taken by police to the Buddh International Circuit boarding house after a fight broke out between Congressional leaders and the police. (Photo Source: INC)
Around 4 p.m., Rahul and Priyanka were taken to a boarding house in Greater Noida, while Congressional workers sat in a dharna. About an hour later, released on bail, they were sent back to Delhi, escorted by police vehicles.
“We were repeatedly stopped when we went out on foot with Rahul… They hit us with lathis… Many of our workers are injured… but our resolve is strong… The lathis of an arrogant government cannot stop us,” Priyanka tweeted.
Speaking to reporters, he asked why the BJP who claims to be the custodian of the Hindu religion did not allow a father to light his daughter’s funeral pyre. “I’m angry. I’m a woman, I have an 18-year-old daughter … Every woman, every daughter, every sister in the country should be angry.”
“Jungle raj in UP has reached such a point that even meeting a family in pain scares the government. Don’t be so scared, Chief Minister, ”Rahul tweeted.
If Congress hopes that the UP government’s handling of the Hathras woman’s death may find resonance among Dalits, especially given the Bihar elections (Dalit MPs from the BJP are among those who have voiced their displeasure), Rahul He will now address another issue that the opposition is supporting around. In the next few days, she will travel to Punjab and Haryana with “yatras tractors” in protest against the recently passed agricultural laws.
Rahul Gandhi interacts with party workers
Congress, which has lost a lot of ground in UP, sees a space vacated by parties like the BSP. The Hathras incident also reinforces his criticism of the Yogi Adityanath government for the law and order situation, expressed by the Priyanka daily in tweets. Neither the BSP nor the Samajwadi Party have yet addressed Hathras’ death.
Congress’s silence on the other hot topic, Babri’s verdict on Wednesday that acquitted all 32 defendants, has been striking in contrast. However, the party does not want to give the BJP a chance to rally its supporters on the issue, and therefore limited its reaction to criticizing the order.
Among the opposition leaders who criticized the actions of the UP Police was the head of the PCN, Sharad Pawar. “It is reprehensible that those who are supposed to respect the law trample on democratic values,” he said. JD (S) HD Leader Deve Gowda, RJD Tejashwi Yadav and Kerala’s Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan called Rahul’s protest and demand to visit Hathras village “a democratic right”. Congressional Leader Ramesh Chennithala said that never before in the country had the police dared to mistreat national leaders.
In a statement, Gautam Buddha Nagar police said that Rahul and Priyanka’s parade consisted of 200 party workers and 50 vehicles. “The workers of the Congress party pushed the police personnel. Both Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi started walking with the party workers, causing a massive traffic jam in which ambulances also got stuck. “
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