New Delhi: Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were stopped by police at the Ghazipur border while attempting to visit violence-hit Sambhal district in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday (December 4).
The police had set up barricades on the highway, blocking the Congress convoy’s path. Despite discussions with senior police officers, the leaders were not allowed to proceed.
Rahul Gandhi condemned the police action, calling it a violation of his constitutional rights. He accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of using the police to suppress the truth and brotherhood. Gandhi emphasised that as the LoP, it was his right and duty to visit Sambhal, but he was stopped.
Also read: Opposition Parties Up in Arms After Uttar Pradesh Govt Denies them Access to Sambhal
“The police stopped us from going to Sambhal. Being the leader of the Opposition, it is my right and duty to go there. Yet I was stopped. I am ready to go alone, but they did not agree to that either. This is against the Constitution. Why is the BJP scared – why is it using the police to hide its failures? Why is it suppressing the message of truth and brotherhood?” he wrote on X.
पुलिस ने हमें संभल जाने से रोक दिया। विपक्ष के नेता होने के नाते यह मेरा अधिकार और कर्तव्य है कि मैं वहां जाऊं। फिर भी मुझे रोका गया।
मैं अकेला जाने को भी तैयार हूं, लेकिन वे इसके लिए भी नहीं माने। यह संविधान के ख़िलाफ़ है।
भाजपा क्यों डरी हुई है – अपनी नाकामियों को छुपाने के… pic.twitter.com/aZ5pDjXtZA
— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) December 4, 2024
Advertisement
The Sambhal authorities had imposed restrictions on the entry of outsiders into the district until December 10, following violence over a survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid. Section 163 of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita 2023 has been invoked, prohibiting the gathering of five or more people.
Five Muslim men were killed in the violence involving the police during a survey of the Mughal-era mosque on November 24.
Senior Congress leaders, including Jairam Ramesh and Ajay Rai, slammed the restrictions imposed by the Sambhal authorities, calling it “a dictatorship” and “the murder of democracy through the blatant misuse of police”.
