UP Congress stages Satyagraha over ‘lathicharge’ on party workers in Lucknow

In protest against the February 17 ‘violence’, we decided to protest by way of Satyagraha, a path shown by Gandhiji, said UP Cong chief Ajay Rai

The Uttar Pradesh Congress on Thursday held a peaceful ‘Satyagraha’ in front of Mahatma Gandhi’s statue at the party’s state headquarters in protest against the alleged lathi-charge on party workers during the February 17 Assembly gherao under the ‘MGNREGA Bachao campaign’.

UP Congress Ajay Rai and party members paying tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi where they staged a sit-in. (Sourced)

“At the behest of the BJP, police lathi-charged Congress members, injuring several workers. In protest against the violence, we decided to protest by way of Satyagraha, a path shown by Gandhiji,” claimed Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai. Congress leaders and workers also paid floral tribute to the statue of Mahatma Gandhi.

Pramod Tiwari, deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha; Aradhana Mishra, Uttar Pradesh Congress Legislature Party leader; Rudra Daman Singh, Congress Lucknow district chief along with other party workers took part in the protest.

Aradhana Mishra had raised the issue of police action in the legislative assembly during the ongoing Budget session. Party workers were on a peaceful march and police used canes, injuring many of them,” she had claimed.

Rai said that peaceful protest is the constitutional right of every citizen and political party in a democracy, alleging that the BJP government in the state is continuously adopting repressive policies to suppress the voice of the opposition.

“The police administration, at the behest of the state BJP government, issued legal notices, imposed house arrests and forcibly stopped Congress workers two days before the protest to prevent them from participating in the protest,” alleged Pramod Tiwari.