New Delhi, Jul 19 (UNI) Lashing out at the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi's 'arrest' was an arbitary use of power by the state government.
"The illegal arrest of Priyanka in Sonbhadra, UP, is disturbing. This arbitrary application of power, to prevent her from meeting families of the 10 Adivasi farmers brutally gunned down for refusing to vacate their own land, reveals the BJP Govt’s increasing insecurity in UP," Mr Gandhi said.
Earlier in the day Ms Priyanka was taken into custody by the Uttar Pradesh police in Varanasi's Narayanpur, neighbouring the Mirzapur border, where she was stopped on her way to Sonbhadra to meet the relatives of persons killed in the recent violence.
The Congress general secretary, who is in-charge of Eastern Uttar Pradesh, where the incident took place, was detained after she sat in dharna when the police stopped her from proceeding to Sonbhadra.
Condemning the arrest, Congress organisational general secretary KC Venugopal said, Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath has completely failed on the law and order front.
Congress party also condemned the 'arrest' of Ms Priyanka, and said it shows Uttar Pradesh government functioning like a dictatorship and that she was taken into custody without a written order and against the basic spirit of the Constitution.
"Chief Minister 'Ajay Singh Bisht' (as Mr Adityanath's previous name before he adopted the current name) -led government’s attempt to stop Priyanka Gandhi from visiting Sonbhadra is an insult to democracy", the party said.
Ms Priyanka said that she wanted to meet the family of the victims peacefully and added, "I want to see the orders under which I have been stopped to meet them".
AICC communication in-charge Randeep Singh Surjewala also slammed Mr Adityanath and said the BJP government has made Uttar Pradesh a crime state.
"Will the Adityanath Government be able to hide the murder of 10 members of Sonbhadra's tribal family by arresting Priyanka Gandhi? The BJP government has made Uttar Pradesh a crime state", Mr Surjewala tweeted.
On Wednesday, 10 people from Gonda community were killed during a firing which took place over a property dispute at the Umbha village of the Ghorawal area of the Sonbhadra district in Uttar Pradesh.
The police have arrested gram pradhan Yaghya Dutt Bhuriya, his close relatives and 27 others in the case.
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