Lucknow/Sambhal: Scores of Congress workers jostled with police personnel and tried to scale barricades outside the party office in Lucknow on Monday as a party delegation led by its Uttar Pradesh unit chief Ajay Rai was prevented from leaving for Sambhal, which has been made out of bounds by administration after the November 24 violence.
Amid high drama, Rai, who took the driver's seat in his car with senior party leader PL Punia next to him, could not leave for the "fact-finding" visit even as scuffles broke out between the cops and the slogan-shouting party workers, who tried to clear the way for their leaders.
Rai drove the car to some distance inside the Congress office complex but it was stopped by the police at the gate. After this, he sat on a dharna outside the party office along with Congress workers, Punia said.
A large police contingent had been deployed and barricades put up since Sunday night around the Congress office in Lucknow's Mall Avenue area to prevent Rai and others from leaving for Sambhal, which was hit by violence during protests against a court-ordered survey of a mosque.
The Congress slammed the BJP government, saying it was trying to hide its failure with its "anti-democratic" actions. Rai, who had spent the night at the Congress office along with several party workers, later said the party delegation will visit Sambhal when prohibitory orders are lifted.
The BJP hit back with deputy chief ministers Keshav Prasad Maurya and Brajesh Pathak accusing Congress and Samajwadi Party leaders of going to Sambhal for "political tourism". They alleged that the opposition wanted to spoil the "peaceful" atmosphere in the district.
Speaking to reporters after being stopped from going to Sambhal, Rai said, "The administration has told me that prohibitory orders are in place (in Sambhal) till December 10. I had told them that our party (delegation) would go there. The administration said that before December 10, they will let us know.
"And, the day the prohibitory orders are lifted, the Congress delegation will definitely go to Sambhal." To a question, Rai said, "They may extend the prohibitory order after December 10, as they are feeling afraid. The government is perpetrating this atrocity and injustice to hide its failures. We will definitely go to Sambhal."
Maurya described the Congress and the SP as 'saanpnath' and 'naagnath' (Hindi synonyms for snakes) and alleged that their "politics of appeasement" has ruined the country. "There have been no riots in Sambhal. If two goons of SP, rioters and mafia fought among themselves, then why are they doing drama now," he told reporters, while blaming local SP MP and MLA for the ruckus.
He accused the opposition parties of trying to "spoil the peaceful atmosphere of Sambhal". Deputy Chief Minister Pathak said the government is committed to maintaining law and order in Sambhal.
"Be it Congress or SP, these people have made Sambhal a centre point only for political tourism. Our commitment is to maintain law and order. The judicial commission has visited there and strict action will be taken against whoever is found guilty," he said. "We will maintain law and order in Sambhal under all circumstances and will not allow anyone to break the law," Pathak said.
Meanwhile, in a post of X in Hindi, the Congress said, "The Congress delegation led by UP Congress President @kashikirai ji has been stopped from reaching Sambhal. This dictatorship of the UP government was strongly opposed by Congress colleagues including Ajay Rai ji. "Our courage is not going to be broken by the arbitrariness of the government and the police. We will continue to try to establish peace in Sambhal and provide justice to the people. The struggle continues..."
The UP Congress in a post on X said, "Though the BJP government, through conspiracy and misuse of power, has prevented the Congressmen under the leadership of State President Shri @kashikirai ji to go to Sambhal, we will continue to fight against the violence that took place there due to their conspiracy!"
"The Congress Party will expose the conspiracy of the BJP behind the violence in Sambhal and bring out its true face before the public. This state cannot run at all with the slogan 'batenge to katenge'," the UP Congress said.
The Congress workers moving from Delhi towards Sambhal were also stopped at the UP border by the state police. Senior Congress leader Naseemuddin Siddiqui and former UP Congress chief Brijlal Khabri were among those who were turned back by the police.
The police had on Sunday night erected barricades outside the party's office in the state capital and the residences of its several leaders who were to accompany Rai on the Congress' planned fact-finding visit to Sambhal. Tension has been brewing in Sambhal since November 19, when a Mughal-era mosque was surveyed on court orders following claims that a Harihar temple previously stood at the site.
Violence erupted during a second survey on November 24 as protesters gathered near Shahi Jama Masjid and clashed with security personnel. Four people died and several others were injured in the violence that ensued.
The Congress' Sambhal city president Tauqeer Ahmed told reporters on Monday that the delegation of the Uttar Pradesh Congress was to reach Sambhal under Rai's leadership to offer condolences to the grieving families, take stock of the situation and appeal for peace.
"Earlier, the district officer had imposed a ban on entering Sambhal till November 30, before that we had announced the delegation's visit on December 2. But now, the police administration is stopping everyone from coming to Sambhal. This is against democracy," Ahmed said.
Leader of the Congress Legislature Party in the Uttar Pradesh Legislative Assembly Aradhana Mishra said, "I have been placed under house arrest. Our party leaders are being stopped." "This is complete anarchy on the part of the government. The government is trying to hide its failure by citing the imposition of Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita (BNSS), and is not allowing us to go there (Sambhal) from Lucknow," Mishra added.
The Uttar Pradesh Congress chief spent Sunday night at the Congress committee office along with several party workers. The ban on outsiders' entry in Sambhal which was to expire on Saturday has now been extended till December 31. Members of the judicial commission probing the November 24 violence on Sunday visited the Shahi Jama Masjid and other affected areas.
