The row over the detention of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Chunar in Uttar Pradesh escalated on Saturday as she reiterated that she will not return without visiting Umbha village in Sonbhadra.
Priyanka Gandhi spent the night at the Chunar fort guest house after police stopped her Friday from visiting the next of kin of the victims killed in the firing in a land dispute case in Sonbhadra’s Umbha village.
“I will not go back without visiting Umbha village. I can meet the members of victims’ families elsewhere. The administration should make arrangement for that. I can go to the village alone,” she told reporters.
“The administration has not shown me any papers about why they detained me,” Priyanka said.
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She also took on the ruling BJP for not meeting the families of the victims. “Not even a single BJP MLA, MP or chief minister Yogi Adityanath has visited the families of the victims to know about their condition. I am here to express my solidarity with the people of Umbha village. We will become the voice of the people because the Yogi government is trying to silence them,” she said.
As the controversy over her detention escalated, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel said he was heading to join her in her protest. The Rajasthan unit of the Congress will also stage a protest Jaipur, deputy chief minister Sachin Pilot tweeted.
Priyanka Congress workers continued to sit in protest in Chunar, 40 km Southeast of Varanasi. 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.
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.
“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.
(With input from Ritesh Mishra in Raipur)
First Published:
Jul 20, 2019 11:01 IST
Source: HindustanTimes