Cong versus BJP battle intensifies in Amethi

LUCKNOW: Within five days of the Congress move of pasting a memorandum listing issues of farmers at Union minister Smriti Irani’s residence in Amethi, the BJP did the same at the District Congress Committee (DCC) office in the VVIP constituency, once considered a bastion of Nehru-Gandhi family.

A group of BJP workers barged into the DCC office at Gauriganj (Amethi) and pasted a memorandum demanding that 65-acre Samrat Cycle land be given back to farmers.

“The Congress has been raising the issues of farmers. On Wednesday, the BJP government sent some goons to the DCC office at Gauriganj in Amethi to break open the gates and damage property there. The Congress will not bow down and intensify the Kisan Jan Jagaran Abhiyan launched across the state to focus on problems of farmers,” said Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu, who rushed to the constituency on Wednesday.

“I along with district BJP president Durgesh Tripathi led a march from district BJP office to district Congress office this afternoon. We demanded that 65-acre land of Samrat Cycles that Rajiv Gandhi Charitable Trust bought in an auction in 2011 be given back to farmers. Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has been talking about issues of farmers and party claims of raising the issues of farmers. Why can’t they return the land to farmers?” said senior BJP leader Uma Shankar Pandey, who is also the president of Visthapit Krishak Sangharsh Samiti.

Pandey said the BJP had sent a copies of memorandum to the President of India, Governor of Uttar Pradesh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi. “This copy of the memorandum pasted at DCC office was addressed to DCC president. We assembled at the district BJP office and later marched to DCC office,” he said.

The BJP’s action was obviously in response to the Congress

workers decision to paste a memorandum at Smriti Irani’s residence in her absence in Amethi on Friday last. It speaks of the intensifying of the battle between the Congress and the BJP as the former makes attempts to strengthen organisation to regain control of the constituency that Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi lost to Irani in 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The Congress has accused the BJP of indulging in political vendetta saying a team of district officers raided business establishments of DCC president Pradeep Singhal on Saturday as he had led his partymen to Irani’s residence to paste the memorandum there on Friday. Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had spoken to Singhal soon after the raids and assured him that the party would firmly stand behind him in Amethi. “We had given advance notice when we went to Irani’s office to give memorandum. We pasted the memorandum when no BJP leader was present to take our memorandum. The BJP workers barged into the DCC office without informing us. They broke open the main gate and damaged a hoarding at the DCC office,” said DCC spokesman Anil Singh.

“We had got information about the BJP’s plans to enter our office this morning. So we informed the district administration. Unfortunately, the district administration sided with the BJP leaders and asked us to allow the BJP leaders to handover memorandum at the DCC office. We waited for them with garlands. But the BJP workers indulged in violence and damaged property,” said Singh.

A GROUP OF BJP WORKERS BARGED INTO THE DCC OFFICE AT GAURIGANJ AND PASTED A MEMORANDUM DEMANDING THAT 65ACRE SAMRAT CYCLE LAND BE GIVEN BACK TO FARMERS.