Barred by the administration from speaking during her party’s Gandhi Sandesh Yatra on Wednesday, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while speaking informally to the media, attacked the Bharatiya Janata Party, asking the ruling party to pursue the path of truth first before speaking about the Mahatma.
Ahead of participating in the Gandhi Sandesh Yatra to commemorate Mahatma Gandhi’s 150th birth anniversary, Priyanka paid floral tributes to martyrs and freedom fighters at Shaheed Smarak and later spoke her mind to the waiting media persons.
Priyanka told newspersons, “Atrocities are being committed on women and when they raise their voice to resist and oppose, they are being crushed. The Congress will definitely stand by these victims.”
While permitting the Gandhi Sandesh Yatra on Tuesday, Lucknow district administration had prohibited Priyanka from making any speech during the programme. The administrative caution was taken on the apprehension that Priyanka and her party leaders might grab the opportunity to embarrass the Yogi Adityanath government for “shielding rape accused BJP leader Swami Chinmayanand and instead suppressing the rape victim”.
Earlier on Monday, the government had tried to crush a silent march of Congressmen from Shahjahanpur to Lucknow, being taken out for the same cause.
The Congress, along with other opposition parties, have boycotted the 36-hour special session of the UP legislature organised by the state government to mark 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Backed by a huge crowd of Congress supporters and leaders, Priyanka, clad in a green-white saree, led the silent march that started from Shaheed Smarak and culminated at the GPO Park in Hazratganj.
There, Congress leaders garlanded the statue of Mahatma Gandhi and sang ‘Ram Dhun’ and bhajans.
Priyanka walked through the thoroughfares of Lucknow alongside party leaders and workers. There was also a clamour for selfies with Priyanka, which she smilingly obliged.
Former Union minister Jitin Prasada, who was put under house arrest in Shahjahanpur on Monday to stop him from taking out a ‘Nyay Yatra’ in support of the rape victim law student, and others participated in the march donning white ‘Gandhi caps’.
Prominent leaders who took part in the march included Pramod Tewari, Ajay Kumar ‘Lallu’, Deepak Singh, Aradhna Mishra ‘Mona’, Vinod Mishra, Siddharth Priya Srivastava, Amarnath Agarwal, Akhilesh Pratap Singh, Mukesh Chauhan and others.
UP Congress president Raj Babbar was once again conspicuous by his absence.
Priyanka was scheduled to interact with party workers and leaders at the UP Congress headquarters at Mall Avenue, but it was cancelled as she was running high fever. She left for the airport directly from GPO Park.
PGV: Congress to stand by victimised women
Thursday, 03 October 2019 | PNS
| Lucknow
PGV: Congress to stand by victimised women
Thursday, 03 October 2019 | PNS | Lucknow