MIRZAPUR, July 20:Rejecting a fresh proposal from the Uttar Pradesh Government, Congress leader Priyanka Vadra on Saturday said she would not return to Delhi without meeting the families.
The Uttar Pradesh Government has detained Ms Vadra since Friday for insisting on meeting families of victims of Sonbhadra violence.
“The UP Government had sent across the message to me through ADG Varanasi Brij Bhushan, Varanasi Commissioner Deepak Aggarwal, Mirzapur commissioner and DIG Murzapur that I return without meeting families of victims. They have given me a message from the government that I cannot meet the families. I have, however, conveyed to the government that I will not return without meeting families of Sonbhadra victims,” she said.
The Congress leader said her lawyers have told her that her detention was completely illegal.
“The administration have not given any reason for my arrest nor have they produced any documents recording it,” she said.
Priyanka has been under detention in a guest house since Friday when she was stopped by UP Police from proceeding to Sonbhadra to meet famikies of the victims if violence.
The Congress general secretary has also announced to go to jail but will not sign the bond for her release and return to New Delhi.
The last ditch effort by the authorities after mid night on Friday at Chunar Guest house did not yield any result as Priyanka refused to budge.
“The authorities asked Priyanka and other leaders to sign the bond they have brought with them for their release after case under section 151 and 107/16 we’re registered against them for violating section 144 of the CrPC,” Congress legislature party leader Ajay Kumar Lalu said here on Saturday, who is camping in Chunar.
“Why the Yogi Government was denying Priyankaji to visit the village when a delegation of the CPI(M) reached the village on Friday while delegations of SP and BSP reached near the village in Sonebhadra. It is an arbitrary attitude of the Yogi Government ,” he alleged.
“The authorities said that they should sign the bond and leave their demand to visit the village but we have rejected both their pleas,”he said.
Priyanka spent the whole night at the Chunar guest house. At night she came out and sat with party workers who are staging dharna outside the guest house.
Priyanka has written a series of tweets saying her only demand is that she wants to meet the family of the victims. “ I have not committed any crime and hence why should I give bond for my release. If meeting the family of the victim is a crime, then UP government can put me in the jail,” she said.
Congress MLA Aradhaana Mishra, ‘Mona’ who is also on the spot alleged that the dusputed land was sold to Gram Pradhan in 2017, who opened fire killing 10 people.” Whose government was at that time, “ asks Mona to CM Yogi Adityanath.
However it seems that the Yogi Adityanath Government has made it a prestige issue when other political delegations reached near the affected village and some even talked to the victim families.
CM had already charged that the Congress was behind the land dispute way back in 1989.
But state chief secretary Dr Anup Chandra Pandey categorically said that no political people would be allowed to visit Sonebhadra.
Senior officers including ADG Police Varanasi and Commissioner Vindyachal reached Chunar Guest house late in the Friday night to convince Priyanka and other Congress leaders but they failed in their effort and at around 1.30 am senior officers left the guest house.
Though the Congress’s plan is not clear on their future strategy but manner in which the party’s central unit has asked state units to agitate and organise dharnas it seems the party further wanted to take political advantage of the situation.
Meanwhile, a delegation of the Congress-led by Pramod Tiwari will meet UP Governor Ram Naik on Saturday afternoon to apprised him about the situation.
Though Yogi Adityanath Government is in no mood to allow Priyanka and the Congress leaders to visit the Umbha village in Sonebhadra at any cost; but on the other hand, a delegation of the Samajwadi Party, CPI-M visited the affected village of Sonbhadra district and met victim families on Friday.
A delegation of BSP could only reach Dudhi, which is av nearby village.
A delegation of the Trinamool Congress from West Bengal is also slated to visit Sonebhadra on Saturday.
Meanwhile, the Congress workers in the state sat on dharnas in support of their leader at different places. In Lucknow, Congress leader led by Hanuman Tripathi and Amarnath Agarwal sat on dharna for entire night at the GPO. Similar Dharna were reporters from Ayodhya, Sultanpur, Saharanpur, Kanpur, Prayagraj and other places.
(UNI)
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