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Over 5,000 Congressmen, including All-India Mahila Congress chief Sushmita Dev, Congress Legislature Party leader Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’, MLA Aradhana Mishra ‘Mona’ and other leaders were arrested in 50 districts of Uttar Pradesh while they were going to participate in ‘Naya Yatra’ at Shahjahanpur on Monday.
Surprisingly, UP Congress president Raj Babbar was once again conspicuous by his absence as in so many programme in recent months.
The call for ‘Nyay Yatra’ was given by Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to corner the Yogi Adityanath government for allegedly shielding BJP leader Chinmayanand in a rape case. The ‘Nyay Yatra’ was to start from Shahjahanpur on Monday and conclude in Lucknow on next Monday.
But as senior Congress leaders were en route to Shahjahanpur to participate in the ‘Nyaya Yatra’, the police arrested them in apprehension of breach of peace as the government has imposed prohibitory orders under Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code in Shahjahanpur.
Irked by the arrest, Congress leaders PL Punia and former MLA Akhilesh Pratap Singh announced that the party workers would stage a demonstration at all district headquarters of the state on Tuesday to protest suppression by the government.
The Congress termed the administration’s decision to bar them from taking out a march in support of a law student who has accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand of rape as “unfortunate” and “undemocratic”.
The law student is in judicial custody after being denied anticipatory bail on charges of attempted extortion from the rape accused.
While Lallu along with Rohit Chaudhary and Dheeraj Gujjar were taken to Reserve Police Lines from their hotels in Shahjahanpur, Sushmita Dev, Aradhana Mishra and other women leaders along with Mukesh Chauhan, Gaurav Chaudhary, Ved Prakash Tripathi were detained on the borders of Shahjahanpur while coming from Lucknow and later taken to Behta Gokul police station in Hardoi.
Former Union minister Jitin Prasada along with district Congress chief Kaushal Mishra were put under house arrest and were not allowed to step out of their houses.
The police even did not spare other senior leaders, including AICC secretary Sachin Naik, Sohail Ansari, Rajiv Tyagi and others, who were sitting on a dharna at the district Congress office in Shahjahanpur to protest the detention of their leaders. These leaders were also arrested and taken to Reserve Police Lines.
Hitting out at the state government, Jitin Prasada said, “UP is no Kashmir. Yet, today I am in preventive custody for wanting to highlight the plight of the Shahjahanpur rape victim. This BJP regime has no qualms in quashing an individual’s fundamental rights!”
Prasada also sought to know how the march was a “violation of law” and termed the decision as unfortunate.
“The girl is paying the price for raising her voice against a powerful BJP leader. While the rape accused is relaxing in an AC room of a hospital, the girl is in jail. She needs support and we are with her,” Congress leader Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’ had said, demanding the victim’s immediate release.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and veteran leader Digvijaya Singh also expressed their dismay at the issue.
Taking to Twitter, Priyanka wrote, “The UP BJP government wants to suppress the voice seeking justice for Shahjahanpur’s daughter. Padyatra is being stopped. Our activists are being arrested. Why are they afraid?”
Digvijaya Singh also questioned the decision, insinuating a conspiracy in the matter. “Does Swami Chinmayanand have such a sway over Yogi (Adityanath)?”
In the aftermath of the call for `Nyay Yatra’, large contingents of police were deployed in several places in Shahjahanpur and roads leading to the district.
District Magistrate Indra Vikram Singh said, “Section 144 of the Cr PC is in force and there is no permission to take out the Yatra. If someone tries to violate the law, we will have to act.”