Uttar Pradesh police on Saturday tried to physically stop Priyanka Gandhi Vadra from reaching the house of a retired IPS officer in Lucknow, blocking her car in the middle of the road, trying to push her back when she started walking, and dangerously chasing a two-wheeler she had hopped on to.
Priyanka, who could be seen in an ANI video waving aside the police vehicle that had raced from behind and appeared to be trying to overtake her from the left, eventually walked 90 minutes to cover 8km and reach the home of S.R. Darapuri, 76, who has been arrested for a Facebook post opposing the CAA-NRC.
“When they stopped my car and said we can’t go any farther, I got down and started walking. The police held my neck and pushed me. I fell down…. I kept walking. Then I got on to a party worker’s two-wheeler. They chased the scooter and stopped me. Then I walked to meet the family,” Priyanka told journalists.
Footage of policewomen trying to stop Priyanka (Picture sourced by The Telegraph)
The Congress held a news conference in New Delhi to condemn the “mayhem” unleashed by the UP police. “The way the police stopped her car could have led to an accident. They are putting Priyanka Gandhi’s life in danger,” the party said. “You can imagine what is happening to common citizens when Priyanka Gandhi is manhandled on the middle of the road.”
The party said that 12 of the people killed in police action on protesters in the state had died of bullets and that “innocent persons, activists” had been jailed.
“Ajay Bisht (chief minister Yogi Adityanath’s real name) should be ashamed. Why are the police using excessive force against peaceful protesters? Is this a banana republic? Have democratic rights been suspended in UP? Are there no civil liberties in the state?” the Congress asked.
Priyanka’s office has sent a written complaint to the CRPF officer in charge of VIP security. Since the Narendra Modi government downgraded the Gandhi family’s SPG security to Z-plus, the CPRF has been in charge of their protection.
The complaint says that on Saturday morning, the Hazratganj circle officer and at least a dozen police personnel had barged into the premises where Priyanka was staying and threatened the CRPF personnel protecting her.
Late at night, the state police held a news conference to deny they had held Priyanka by the neck or that she had fallen down.
While protests are being held across the country, it is only in BJP-ruled states that people have been killed. Nineteen have died in Uttar Pradesh alone.