A string of dramatic visuals through the day set the stage for what is being viewed as a crucial political initiative by the Gandhi siblings as they finally managed to reach Hathras in western Uttar Pradesh on their second attempt to meet with the family of the 19-year-old rape victim.
AICC General Secretary in charge of UP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was in the driver's seat as she and brother, former Congress President Rahul Gandhi, headed to Hathras to be greeted by a sea of khaki and heavy barricading at the UP-Delhi border. There were scenes of scuffles between the Congress workers and the police, and Priyanka was seen jumping in to save an injured party worker from the police baton. There were also snatches of the meeting between the Gandhi duo and the victim's family, with Priyanka seen consoling the victim's mother.
The UP administration had not allowed the Gandhis access into the state on October 1 and they were detained and escorted back to Delhi. This was widely criticised by not just the Opposition but also senior BJP leader Uma Bharati, who asked why the Adityanath government would not allow leaders to meet with the family.
While the Gandhis were allowed to travel to Hathras today, the party MPs and other senior leaders who were supposed to accompany them on the visit were turned back from the UP-Delhi border by the state police. Only AICC General Secretary in charge of Organisation K.C. Venugopal and the Congress' leader in the Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury accompanied them.
The powerful visuals that played through the day today gave rise to optimism within the party that this could be a politically significant moment in its campaign against the BJP and the Yogi Adityanath government, especially since UP goes to polls in 2022.
Articulating a firm stance against the BJP regime over the Hathras incident, Priyanka, after an hour-long meeting with the victim's family, attacked the Adityanath government, holding it responsible for the unfortunate events in Hathras and said the party's protest will not stop till justice is served. Priyanka has been leading the party's charge against the ruling dispensation in UP, and has been attempting to revive the party in the politically crucial state.
Rahul said after the meeting that the family had been forced to sign on certain papers, but asserted that the voice of the family cannot be suppressed.
This was the first time that the Gandhis hit the streets after the COVID-19 outbreak. There is optimism within the Congress that the events of the last few days could represent a political turnaround—giving the party a potent issue to corner the Adityanath regime with and also a chance to highlight the caste faultlines in the BJP's aim to consolidate the Hindu Samaj.
It is worth noting that the Valmiki temple in Delhi, where Priyanka took part in a prayer meeting in memory of the deceased Hathras victim was the same spot from where Prime Minister Narendra Modi had made a symbolic launch of his Swachata Abhiyan, attempting to reach out to the dalit community.
With the victim belonging to a dalit family, and doubts being expressed over the impartiality of the state administration in dealing with the alleged perpetrators of the crime who belong to the Thakur community, the incident provided the Opposition with an opportunity to play on the perception of the ruling dispensation being inimical to the interests of the dalits.
Also, with Bahujan Samaj Party supremo Mayawati and her party workers failing to hit the streets and Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav being reticent on the issue, the Congress hopes that the initiative taken by its leaders will be taken note of by the dalit community in the state.
The Congress hopes that the party's campaign will help it find favour with the public since there has been a huge outrage over how the aftermath of the victim's death was handled by the Adityanath regime, and the general perception that the woman was not given a dignified farewell and her family was robbed of its right to cremate her in accordance with their rituals.
