Priyanka Gandhi, the General Secretary of the All India Congress Committee (AICC) Uttar Pradesh East, on the 19th of July, spent the night at a guest house in Mirzapur, Uttar Pradesh.
Ms. Gandhi, was on a visit to Sonbhadra to meet the families of those killed in the Sonbhadra shootout, which took place on the 17th of July.
However, the Uttar Pradesh Government issued a notice, which stated, in context of the shootout in Sonbhadra, any sort of public gathering is banned, due to which, Priyanka Gandhi was also not allowed to visit.
The Uttar Pradesh Police officials stopped her convoy when she was on her way to Sonbhadra. After she was stopped in Mirzapur, she sat on the road and staged a protest against the Bharatiya Janata Party led the UP Government and asked the officials to show her the orders or she would not leave.
Ms. Gandhi said, “I told them clearly that I did not come here to break any laws but came only to meet the affected families. I have told them I won’t go without meeting the affected families.”
Later in the night, the Indian National Congress (INC) leaders visited Priyanka Gandhi and asked her to go back, but she refused and said she would not leave until she met the family members of the victims.
A senior leader of the INC, on the 19th of July, took to Twitter and reported the incident. He said Brij Bhushan, the Additional Director General (ADG) of Varanasi Police, along with other senior Government officials, came to meet her at around midnight at Chunar Fort, where Gandhi was staying and spoke to her.
Priyanka Gandhi also took to Twitter and said, “UP Government sent Varanasi ADG Brij Bhushan, Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Agrawal, DIG Mirzapur to tell me that I should leave without meeting the affected families. They are sitting here since the last one hour. They have not explained why they have taken me in custody, they have also not handed me any papers.”
She further added, “According to my lawyers, my arrest is illegal in all ways. They have passed on the Government’s message to me that I can’t meet the affected families.”
On the other hand, Yogi Adityanath, the Chief Minister of UP, on the 19th of July, blamed the INC for the Sonbhadra incident. He said, “The Congress governments in the past have provided protection to land mafias and the Sonbhadra incident is an example of that.”
Ms. Gandhi planned to visit Sonbhadra to complete her duties towards the people of UP as the AICC General Secretary of UP East.
It is also said the actions of Ms. Gandhi will help the INC and her in the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
Stay tuned for further updates.
