Even though the law and order situation in their ruled state is deteriorating, the Congress leaders displayed unmatched alacrity in visiting violence-stricken Lakhimpur Kheri violence, where clashes erupted between ‘protesting’ farmers and BJP workers led to the death of 8 people.
Several Congress leaders, including the Gandhi scions Priyanka Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, launched a concerted attack against the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh, just months ahead of the all-important assembly elections. Uttar Pradesh is all set to go to the polls in early 2022 and Congress leaders did not want to squander this opportunity to corner the Yogi government on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
While the Congress party brazenly politicised the unfortunate tragedy witnessed in Lakhimpur Kheri so as to extract political mileage out of it, it is noteworthy to mention that the situation in Congress-ruled Rajasthan is not inspiring. BJP SM head Amit Malviya shared a few incidents from Rajasthan which reveal the total collapse of law and order in the state. And yet, Congress leaders such as Priyanka and Rahul were more interested in visiting Uttar Pradesh instead of taking stock of the situation in their own backyard.
The law and order situation in Rajasthan is precarious. Women and Dalits are being brutalised with impunity. Ashok Gehlot led Congress government is sleeping on wheels.
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) October 11, 2021
But Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Vadra, who specialise in photo op politics, are no where to been seen… pic.twitter.com/8IbwiBhuNv
Violence against Dalits, mob lynching, lathicharge of farmers: The abject state of law and order in Rajasthan
Recently, a Dalit boy was brutally attacked by assailants in Rajasthan’s Jalore. The incident was captured on camera and the video of it had instantly gone viral on social media, raising questions on the safety of Dalits in Congress-ruled Rajasthan. This was the third incident in the matter of three days when Dalits had come under attack. Before this incident, a 29-year-old Dalit man was allegedly beaten to death in Rajasthan’s Hanumangarh district over his love affair. In August 2021, a Dalit minor girl was gang-raped in Rajasthan’s Alwar.
An incident of mob lynching also took place in Rajasthan’s Bikaner three days ago. Local Congress leader Megh Singh Bhati was attacked by the armed assailants on Bikaner-Jodhpur Highway in Nokha town on Thursday evening when he was returning from the Karni Mata temple with his family members. According to the reports, over half a dozen assailants armed with sticks attacked the Congress leaders, causing multiple fractures in his leg. The fact that a Congress leader was attacked and severely injured in a Congress-ruled state is a testament to the abject law and order situation in Rajasthan.
Though Congress projects itself to be a party working for the interests of the farmers, the Ashok Gehlot-led government recently baton-charged farmers who were protesting in Hanumagarh. Last week, farmers launched a demonstration outside the Hanumangarh collectorate demanding that the government procure paddy. However, their protest was crushed by a group of policemen who lathicharged them, leaving many of them injured.
Despite a flurry of untoward incidents taking place in Rajasthan, there seems to be no intent from the Congress leadership to visit violence-prone areas and express solidarity with the victims. Neither Rahul Gandhi nor Priyanka Gandhi hightailed it to Jalore, Bikaner or Alwar to express their sympathies with the victims and to hold their government responsible for the lawlessness in the state. Instead, they were interested in playing politics over violence that broke out in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri and using dead bodies to revive the party’s depleting political fortunes.
