Congress poster boy Rahul Gandhi, who was arrested and then released on bail by the Uttar Pradesh police for violating prohibitory orders to join protest with the farmers against the Mayawati government, on Wednesday night joined the league of “protest and court arrest” politicians.
His involvement in the land battle of the farmers and pillion-riding entry in the ground zero village in Greater Noida of Uttar Pradesh witnessed high drama that continued overnight.
Rahul was taken in preventive custody at around 11 pm and then released in the wee hours of Thursday.
Rahul, who was agitating along with other party leaders like Digvijay Singh, was kept in the Kasna police station. He was taken there in a grey Tata Safari.
Reports said Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi and Congress leaders Digvijaya Singh and Raj Babbar were also arrested and released along with Rahul.
Rahul later headed for New Delhi.
The farmers? unrest in parts of western Uttar Pradesh took on a heavier political hue on Wednesday with Rahul Gandhi, Digvijay Singh and expelled Samajwadi Party member Amar Singh defying clampdown to make it to the ground zero of the protests.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi rode the pillion of a motorcycle, eluded the policemen and reached the agitating farmers of Greater Noida’s Bhatta Parsaul village at the crack of dawn to express his solidarity with the villagers protesting the state government?s land acquisition.
Joined by All India Congress Committee general secretary Digvijay Singh, Rahul toured the villages, meeting villagers in the hot May sun and assuring them of the backing of his party, a move that his opponents slammed as another example of his ?photo op politics?
Heavy posse of policemen were deployed in the area and politicians were prevented from reaching the violence-hit village, but Rahul managed to give a slip and score a point by reaching there first among the politicians at 6 am.
After hours of sessions with the villagers, Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Chief Minister Mayawati, saying the the atrocities of the state?s Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government were appalling. ?I feel ashamed as an Indian,? said the Congress poster boy.
?The Congress party will not budge from here till the farmers? demands are met,? said Gandhi, even as the administration reportedly asked the two leaders to leave the village or face arrest.
Congress leader Digvijay Singh said, “Rahul reached first. This is the difference between Rahul and other leaders. He is not there for media publicity.?
“The situation is clear, there was highhandedness against the farmers,? he said, demanding a judicial probe by a senior retired judge into the fairmers? distress that has claimed four lives in violent incidents and spread to Agra and Mathura.
Former Samajwadi Party (SP) member Amar Singh too pulled a Rahul reaching the agitating village, but said he had entered the area in a car and later switched to a motorcycle. He vehemently denied having come to village to gain political vantage.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) called the visit of Rahul a political stunt and said it was “facilitated by the Mayawati government” with which Congress is in league.
“It is disheartening to know that when senior congress leaders like Digvijay Singh and Rahul Gandhi visited the village, the (Uttar Pradesh) government removed Section 144 (that bans assembly of more than five people),” BJP leader Rajnath Singh said.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Monday detained Singh as he tried to enter Greater Noida to support the farmers? agitation on Monday.
Singh, Samjwadi Party (SP) leaders Shivpal Singh Yadav (brother of Mulayam Singh) and Mohan Singh and their supporters were taken into custody as they marched towards Greater Noida violating the prohibitory orders clamped there.
While being detained, Singh demanded state chief minister Mayawati?s resignation.
Bhatta Parsaul village is the ground zero of a protest by the farmers that claimed the lives of two villagers and two policemen. The farmers demanded greater compensation for their land taken for the Yamuna Expressway.
Both Congress and BJP on Monday came down heavily upon Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for Saturday’s police crackdown on farmers in Greater Noida.
?The visuals of farmers agitation in Western UP are shocking. This should not happen in a democratic country. Men have left the villages. There is repression on women and children. How can an elected Government allow this ?? tweeted BJP leader Sushma Swaraj.
Congress? Digvijay SIngh said, “The greed of Mayawati has overtaken her sensible decisions. The whole government is up for grabs for those who have the money to spend and who have the capacity to fill the personal coffers of the Chief Minister.”
The farmers have been demanding good compensation for their land acquired by the Uttar Pradesh government and had also taken three state-run roadways employees hostages.
Security personnel managed to rescue the hostages on Saturday but several farmers, policemen including the District Magistrate (DM) Deepak Aggarwal and an SSP were injured in the ensuing clashes. Two farmers and two cops died in the clashes.