Cannot Be Stopped Like This: Priyanka Gandhi Vadra After Rahul Stopped From Visiting Sambhal

New Delhi: Congress Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Wednesday said that as the Leader of the Opposition, Rahul Gandhi has the right to meet the victims of the violence-hit Sambhal and he cannot be stopped by police at the Ghazipur border from proceeding ahead.

Earlier today Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders were stopped by police at the Ghazipur border from proceeding ahead to violence-hit Sambhal. Subsequently they returned to Delhi.

"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?" Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi returned to Delhi after being stopped at Ghazipur border from visiting Sambhal.

Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said that he was ready to relinquish his convoy and go to violence-hit Sambhal alone with the police but the authorities had asked him to return after some days, adding that this is against the rights of the LoP and against the Constitution.

"We are trying to go to Sambhal, the police is refusing, they are not allowing us. As LoP, it is my right to go, but they are stopping me. I am ready to go alone, I am ready to go with the police, but they did not accept that too. They are saying that if we come back in a few days then they will let us go. This is against the rights of the LoP and against 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.

The violence in Sambhal district erupted on November 24 during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) examination of a Mughal-era mosque. The clashes resulted in four fatalities and multiple injuries among police personnel and locals.

The ASI survey followed a petition filed in a local court, claiming that the mosque's site was originally a Harihar temple.