Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party workers continued to sit in protest in Chunar, 40 km Southwest of Varanasi on Saturday after police stopped her Friday from visiting the next of kin of the victims killed in a firing incident in a land dispute case in Sonbhadra’s Umbha village.
Congress workers raised slogans against Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath Saturday morning at Chunar to protest Priyanka’s detention.
Priyanka Gandhi, who was detained in Narayanpur by police on Friday, spent the night at a guest house in Chunar in Mirzapur district of Uttar Pradesh where she was taken after she squatted on the road with her supporters, insisting that she be allowed to proceed and meet the families of 10 people killed in the firing.
“I will not go back without meeting the families of those killed in the firing , which has exposed the failure of the Uttar Pradesh government. The government is protecting ‘bhu mafias’ (land sharks) and oppressing the poor,” Priyanka Gandhi told the party workers at Chunar fort, where she was taken after being detained near Narayanpur police outpost in Mirzapur.
Senior Congress leader P L Punia claimed that the Yogi Adityanath government in was trying to hide its failure by stopping Priyanka Gandhi from visiting the village.
{{/usCountry}}Senior Congress leader P L Punia claimed that the Yogi Adityanath government in was trying to hide its failure by stopping Priyanka Gandhi from visiting the village.
{{/usCountry}}Also Watch | Jail me, but won’t leave without meeting victims: Priyanka dares Yogi govt
“Prime Minister Narendra Modi should have visited the families of the victims. No one from the BJP has visited the place. When Priyanka Gandhi was on her way to visit the families of the victims, she was detained, The Adityanath government is trying to hide its failure,” Punia said.
Locals also claimed that no one from the ruling BJP has visited them.
“Despite such a painful incident, no senior leader of the BJP visited us. At least local representatives of the ruling party should have visited us. But they are in power. That is why they don’t have time to visit us. Now the administration stopped Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi from visiting our village. We heard she was coming to console us,” Harvansh Gond, a villager said, adding that the administration shouldn’t have done so.
“Many locals have been gathered to see Priyanka Gandhi and want to share their pain,” Gond said.
Naurang, a farmer in the village, said, “Stopping the Congress leader from visiting the locals is not a solution to the problem. The government should look into the problem and address them.”
At Sonbhadra, there is simmering anger among villagers over Priyanka Gandhi’s detention. Women in particular are furious.
“Since morning we are waiting for Priyanka Gandhi. We are traumatized and wanted to tell how the village head used to threaten the locals. Voice of poor like us fell on deaf ears because the village head had high contacts. I wanted to share many things with Priyanka Gandhi,” Sukhvati said Friday after she came to know that the Congress leader had been detained.
Batusani, another local woman, also criticised the administration. “They don’t listen to the poor and when anyone tries to listen to them in order to raise their issue, the administration stops her. Priyanka Gandhi was not coming for a rally. She wanted to meet the families of the victims of firing incident,” she said.