UP Cong seeks judicial probe in Pratapgarh violence

Lucknow, Sep 27 In a delayed reaction, the Uttar Pradesh Congress has demanded a judicial probe into Pratapgarh violence in which former Congress MP Pramod Tiwari and Congress legislature party leader Aradhana Mishra have been booked for attempt to murder.

A total of five FIRs have been registered against the Congress leaders after the local BJP MP Sangam Lal Gupta was allegedly manhandled by a group of persons during an official programme on Saturday in Sangipur in Pratapgarh.

Gupta claimed that he had been attacked by the Congress men at the behest of their leaders.

The state government has suspended the circle officer of Lalganj, Jagmohan, for alleged dereliction of duty.

While the BJP leaders rushed in to support their party MP, the UP Congress maintained a studied silence for more than 30 hours before finally coming out to support their leaders.

Even Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who tweets on every issue, did not condemn the attack on her party leaders.

UPCC president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who had been receiving flak in party's WhatsApp groups for not standing up for Pramod Tiwari and Aradhana Mishra, said in a statement that the police had acted in a partial manner and a judicial inquiry into the incident was needed.

He alleged that the BJP leader had masterminded the violence in order to gain sympathy after his party fared poorly in the panchayat elections.

He also challenged Sangam Lal Gupta to produce the video evidence of the incident to prove that he was attacked by Congress workers.