Rahul to lead Congress MPs to Hathras today to meet victim’s family

Congress MPs under the leadership of Rahul will go to Hathras on Saturday afternoon, the party said. It said Rahul will meet the family members of the victim, hear their grievances and demand justice for the deceased and her kin, who have been “denied justice and severely traumatised by the BJP government in their desperate attempt to hide the truth of the heinous crime perpetrated on the victim.”

On October 1, Rahul, accompanied by sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, had hit the streets for the first time since the COVID-19 outbreak as they headed to Hathras to meet the family of the victim, but were stopped on the way by the police.

Dramatic visuals of the police stopping the Gandhi siblings as they walked on the Yamuna Expressway after their vehicles were not allowed to proceed towards Hathras, and the duo eventually getting arrested, worked towards escalating the political heat on the issue.

The party sees in the Hathras incident an opening to run a strong campaign against the Yogi Adityanath government, especially since the next Assembly elections are only over a year-and-half away.

The dalit identity of the victim has ensured that the Yogi Adityanath regime is faced with increased questioning with regard to safeguarding the interests of dalits.

The ruling dispensation in Lucknow is being criticised for allegedly being favourable towards Thakurs and for targeting other communities like the Brahmins and the dalits.

Also, there is expectation in the Congress that the former party chief’s initiatives in the Hathras incident, coupled with his participation in the farmers’ agitation in Punjab and Haryana, will help silence his critics both within and outside the party who have questioned his commitment to politically pertinent issues.

Rahul was expected to kick off a tractor rally in Punjab on Saturday to protest against the recent farm laws; this event has been postponed to Sunday. The rescheduling of the protest against the farm laws has been done on account of his visit to Hathras.