'Congress New Muslim League': BJP Vs INDIA Bloc Over Rahul Gandhi's Planned Sambhal Visit
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Sambhal gave way to a political row on Wednesday, with the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Opposition INDIA bloc training guns on each other. While the Congress termed stopping the Gandhis “injustice", the BJP said the party has now become the “new Muslim League".
The situation turned chaotic after the Ghazipur Border on the Delhi-Meerut Expressway witnessed massive traffic as the Uttar Pradesh Police put up barricades and started checking vehicles to prevent any untoward incident.
A heavy security was also deployed to stop the Gandhis and other Congress MPs from visiting the violence-hit city, which saw the death of five people on November 24.
The Congress workers defied barricading and also engaged in a scuffle with the commuters on the stretch, who faced a harrowing time reaching their destinations due to the traffic congestion.
Meanwhile, members of the Congress’ youth wing raised slogans and waved the party flag as the police stopped Rahul Gandhi at the Ghazipur Border citing prohibitory orders.
After hours of deadlock, Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were escorted to the Parliament in Delhi by the Uttar Pradesh Police in their vans.
As the entire incident unfolded, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor termed the police action “injustice" and said this was the time to think about the future.
“This is injustice, a public representative has the right that if there is a very important issue, he should go and see it, listen to the voice of the people. Not letting them go is wrong. This is the time to think about the future, how long will we talk about history? This is not right, they should have been allowed to go," Tharoor said while talking to reporters outside the Parliament today.
Party MP Renuka Chowdhury also said Congress would continue to protest.
“They will not let them go, they cannot face the truth. We will keep protesting. Only we spoil the atmosphere that we are stopped? What is happening in Sambhal, who will take the responsibility?" she asked.
Later, party MP KC Venugopal claimed the police told them that the delegation would be allowed to visit Sambhal after nearly five days.
“The police informed us that they will allow us after four to five days. They have purposefully blocked the traffic. We do not want to create problems for the common people," he told reporters.
Samajwadi Party chief and former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav alleged the BJP was attempting to create an atmosphere of ‘no development’. He also alleged the Sambhal incident was deliberately engineered by the BJP.
Talking to reporters, Yadav said, “The BJP is deliberately trying to create such an atmosphere, they don’t want progress, happiness, or development. The biggest crime they committed was when they didn’t allow people to vote."
Commenting on Rahul Gandhi being stopped from visiting Sambhal, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MP Manoj Jha said, “When you allow the Opposition people to go there, the situation will improve. What problem do you have with this? Only those who are authoritarian and dictatorial will have a problem with this."
BJP SAYS CONGRESS ‘NEW MUSLIM LEAGUE’
Slamming the Gandhi family over their planned Sambhal visit, BJP’s IT cell chief Amit Malviya alleged the family visits temples only during elections.
In an X post, Malviya wrote, “Why are Rahul Gandhi and his sister going to Sambhal? They will not be going to Harihar temple to offer prayers. The Gandhi family visits temples only during elections, and there are no elections in Uttar Pradesh right now."
“Rahul Gandhi is going to Sambhal to ensure that the entire Muslim vote bank there does not go to the Samajwadi Party. Their only aim is to spread communal frenzy. They have no idea how much inconvenience this is causing people and how much Hindu society is feeling hurt. Congress has become the new Muslim League," a rough translation of his post in Hindi suggested.
Also commenting on the matter, BJP’s national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said, “LOP is a statutory post not a constitutional one There is no constitutional right to do politics over a sponsored attack on cops," (sic).
Addressing a press conference over Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s scheduled visit to Sambhal, and how they were stopped in Ghaziabad, BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi today alleged the Congress was taking forward its agenda, while the other parties of the INDI Alliance decided to go their way.
“The Parliament session is underway, and the people have witnessed the differences within the INDI Alliance and their negative approach towards the Constitution. Yesterday, 42 notices under Rule 267 were received in Rajya Sabha and the important thing is that the notices received were for nine different topics," the BJP MP said.
“It was evident that the Congress was taking forward its agenda and other parties of the INDI Alliance decided to go their way. After the failure to take along the alliance parties on the floor of the House, today, Rahul Gandhi, under compulsion, tried to visit Uttar Pradesh’s sensitive Sambhal. It was just a formality for media attention as he has failed to keep the INDI Alliance together," Trivedi said in Delhi.
Also commenting on the matter, Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Maurya, while talking to reporters today said, “Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi are doing unsuccessful politics to get Muslim votes. It is a drama and will not benefit both the parties, they will be finished."
“The country is with the BJP in the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sambhal is peaceful now, but they want to affect it. They are unable to tolerate the welfare of the country," Maurya said.
The other Deputy Chief Minister, Brajesh Pathak, said, “I want to appeal to all the leaders to help the administration restore peace. The UP government is standing with people, but these leaders only want to visit for votes, there is no problem if they visit after the situation normalises, there will be no restriction."
The Congress delegation had planned to visit Sambhal and meet the families of those killed in the violence, despite there being curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS).
The curbs were set to be lifted on December 1. However, have now been extended until December 31.
The Ghaziabad Police Commissioner had earlier informed PTI that they would not allow Rahul Gandhi to proceed towards Sambhal due to the prohibitory orders imposed by the administration there.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Stopped At The Ghazipur Border On Their Way To Sambhal
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel.
Five people were killed, while many more were injured in the violence.
Source: News 18