Congress MPs protest in parliament complex over Sonbhadra incident

Congress Members of Parliament on Mondayon Monday protested against the Uttar Pradesh government on preventing Priyanka Gandhi from visiting the families of the 10 people who lost their lives in the Sonbhadra firing incident.

Standing in front of the Gandhi statue inside Parliament complex, the MPs raised slogans like, "Sonbhadra ke logo ke saath nyaya karo" (Do Justice with victims of Sonbhadra) and "Priyanka Gandhi hirasat me kyu, sarkar jawab do (Why was Priyanka Gandhi detained, the government should answer us).

Present at the protest, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor said, " There are assaults on Dalits and innocent people are being killed. It is the responsibility of a political party to investigate what happened and give some consolation to the bereaved families. On what law did Yogi Adityanath's government arrest Priyanka Gandhi while she was doing her duty? On what basis can she be put in jail? This is utterly shameful.".

Tharoor also accused the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister of promoting lawlessness in the state.

"Law and order is the responsibility of the state government and what the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh has done is to promote lawlessness." he said.

Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad said, "In the incident at Sonbhadra, 10 people were brutally killed and when the opposition wants to go there to express condolences-like our AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, she gets detained for over 24 hours instead of getting support from the state government."

"This is undemocratic and it cannot continue," he said.

At least ten people including women were killed, while over 20 sustained injuries when a village headman and his associates allegedly opened fire at a group of people over a land dispute at Ubbha village in Ghorawal area in Sonbhadra district on July 17.

Twenty-nine people have been arrested and four officials have been suspended in connection with the incident.

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's visit to Sonbhadra had upped the temperature of the state politics after she was stopped from visiting the bereaved families and was put in detention in a guest house in the adjacent Mirzapur district.

UP CM Yogi Adityanath on the other hand, has accused Congress of shedding 'crocodile tears' and said the people are suffering because of the party's previous sins.

( With inputs from ANI )