‘Against the rights of the LoP’: Rahul slams police for blocking Sambhal visit

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.
Uttar Pradesh’s deputy chief minister Brajesh Pathak said Congress leaders were trying to politicise the Sambhal violence. He appealed to the politicians to not spoil the law and order of the state.
“Sadly, they are trying to politicise the Sambhal case. Please do not spoil the law and order of UP. Your visit is spoiling the atmosphere there…. Cartridge shells that came from Pakistan have been recovered there and the matter is being investigated. Whoever is involved in this will not be spared….UP has changed now. It needs development and law and order. They will not be able to divide UP… Whenever there is a big disturbance, the police impose Section 144, under which a crowd cannot gather until peace is restored. As long as the section is in place, Congress should not attempt such acts there,” he said.
Four people died and scores were injured on November 24, after a mob threw stones at a team of officials surveying a Mughal-era mosque.
The survey was ordered by a local court in response to a plea that claimed a Hindu temple had been demolished for the construction of the mosque.