PTINEW DELHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained by the Uttar Pradesh police on the Yamuna Expressway on Thursday after they and some other party workers staged a symbolic “march to Hathras” for a few kilometres.
This came after the convoy of the Gandhis was stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border when they set out to meet the relatives of the Dalit girl who had died after she was reportedly gang-raped and was cremated by cops in the dead of night. They were released later and they returned to Delhi.
After being told about prohibitory orders around Hathras, when their convoy was stopped at the border, the Gandhis and their supporters said they would rather walk to Hathras, about 180 km away, and symbolically walked for a few kilometres, accompanied by TV media crews.
When police resorted to a mild lathi-charge after a while to disperse the workers and leaders accompanying the Gandhi siblings, Rahul Gandhi fell down in the melee and he alleged the cops had pushed him down and lathi-charged him. “Just now the police pushed me, lathi charged me and threw me to the ground. I want to ask, can only Modi ji walk in this country? Can’t a normal person walk? Our vehicle was stopped, so we started walking,” Rahul Gandhi told the media persons. “Why are you arresting me? What are the grounds for the arrest? Please tell the media," he was heard telling the cops who said the Gandhis were charged under “section 188” for defying official orders including Covid-related restrictions.
Priyanka Vadra said, “Uttar Pradesh CM must take responsibility for the safety of women and ensure atrocities against them are stopped. This (Hathras) incident was a big injustice and what the government did after that in cremating the body was a bigger insult. Around the same time last year, we were fighting for the Unnao daughter, the situation in UP has not changed in a year."
The Gandhis were driven off in a police vehicle to a nearby guest house and they later returned to Delhi.
As the next Uttar Pradesh assembly election is due in 2022, the Congress is latching onto every issue that shows up the Yogi Adityanath government. A few months ago, Vadra had slammed the state government by “arranging buses” for the migrant workers who were left to walk back home. Last year, she visited Sonbhadra village in connection with the killing of some tribals over a land dispute.
Beyond such occasional forays, many feel the Gandhis’ real test in UP is to carve out a credible social and organisational base for the state Congress through sustained hard work in the hostile political terrain.
Priyanka Vadra’s businessman husband Robert gave an interview to a news agency in which he demanded CM Adityanath’s resignation and criticised the state police for the manner they treated the case of the Dalit girl and the way her body was cremated. He also said her wife Priyanka has been very disturbed over the Hathras incident and that she had been working hard to reach out and help the victim’s family.
Robert Vadra’s controversial business deals have been fodder for the BJP’s attacks on the Gandhis and the Congress.
This came after the convoy of the Gandhis was stopped at the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh border when they set out to meet the relatives of the Dalit girl who had died after she was reportedly gang-raped and was cremated by cops in the dead of night. They were released later and they returned to Delhi.
After being told about prohibitory orders around Hathras, when their convoy was stopped at the border, the Gandhis and their supporters said they would rather walk to Hathras, about 180 km away, and symbolically walked for a few kilometres, accompanied by TV media crews.
When police resorted to a mild lathi-charge after a while to disperse the workers and leaders accompanying the Gandhi siblings, Rahul Gandhi fell down in the melee and he alleged the cops had pushed him down and lathi-charged him. “Just now the police pushed me, lathi charged me and threw me to the ground. I want to ask, can only Modi ji walk in this country? Can’t a normal person walk? Our vehicle was stopped, so we started walking,” Rahul Gandhi told the media persons. “Why are you arresting me? What are the grounds for the arrest? Please tell the media," he was heard telling the cops who said the Gandhis were charged under “section 188” for defying official orders including Covid-related restrictions.
Priyanka Vadra said, “Uttar Pradesh CM must take responsibility for the safety of women and ensure atrocities against them are stopped. This (Hathras) incident was a big injustice and what the government did after that in cremating the body was a bigger insult. Around the same time last year, we were fighting for the Unnao daughter, the situation in UP has not changed in a year."
The Gandhis were driven off in a police vehicle to a nearby guest house and they later returned to Delhi.
As the next Uttar Pradesh assembly election is due in 2022, the Congress is latching onto every issue that shows up the Yogi Adityanath government. A few months ago, Vadra had slammed the state government by “arranging buses” for the migrant workers who were left to walk back home. Last year, she visited Sonbhadra village in connection with the killing of some tribals over a land dispute.
Beyond such occasional forays, many feel the Gandhis’ real test in UP is to carve out a credible social and organisational base for the state Congress through sustained hard work in the hostile political terrain.
Priyanka Vadra’s businessman husband Robert gave an interview to a news agency in which he demanded CM Adityanath’s resignation and criticised the state police for the manner they treated the case of the Dalit girl and the way her body was cremated. He also said her wife Priyanka has been very disturbed over the Hathras incident and that she had been working hard to reach out and help the victim’s family.
Robert Vadra’s controversial business deals have been fodder for the BJP’s attacks on the Gandhis and the Congress.
Read More News on
Also Read
2 Comments on this Story
 | Muthuraman1 hour ago They fight for your sister, mother, etc. Not for themselves. Don't criticize. One day it will happened in your family, that time take banana in your mouth. |
| Ashu Bajaj1 hour ago Both these Hippocrate , Thives, Anti National, Traitors Brother and Sister should be locked up for Good. They are good for nothing demented trouble makers for all and I wish the UP police would have given these disobedient man and women child a beating that they rightly so deserved. Had their parents given them a thrashing, They may have gotten some sence. complete idiots |