The Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday said that the Uttar Pradesh police stopped his convoy at the Ghazipur border, blocking his planned visit to violence-hit Sambhal. The Congress leader added that the police denied him his constitutional right to meet the affected people.Rahul Gandhi said he was ready to relinquish his convoy and go to Sambhal alone with the police. He said the authorities had asked him to return after some days.
We are trying to go to Sambhal, but the police are refusing, they are not allowing us. As LoP, it is my right to go, but they are stopping me. I was ready to go alone and go with the police, but they did not accept that either. They are saying that if we return in a few days, they will let us go. This is against the rights of the LoP and the Constitution. We just want to go to Sambhal and see what happened there, we want to meet the people. My constitutional right is not being given to me. This is the new India, this is the India to end the Constitution. This is the India to end Ambedkar’s Constitution. We will keep fighting, Rahul Gandhi said at the Ghazipur border.
Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said as the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi has the right to meet the victims of the violence.
“Whatever happened in Sambhal is wrong. Rahul Gandhi is the leader of the opposition, he has constitutional rights and he cannot be stopped like this. He has the constitutional right to be allowed to go and meet the victims. He also said that he would go alone with the UP police but they are not ready to do that either. The police have no answer. Maybe the situation in Uttar Pradesh is such that they cannot handle even this much. Why do they say so arrogantly that they have taken care of the law and order?” she was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.
