New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi Thursday made headlines by stepping out and choosing to walk to Hathras to visit the family of the gang rape victim.
Gandhi was accompanied by his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the party general secretary of Uttar Pradesh, when their car was stopped at the Delhi-UP border. The duo then began walking to Hathras, nearly 150 km from Greater Noida, before being arrested by UP Police.
Pictures of Rahul Gandhi suffering a fall after a scuffle with police officials flooded social media, as did a video of the former Congress president arguing with the police asking them: “Which law am I violating?”
The last time Gandhi captured attention in this manner was in 2011 during the farmers’ agitation in Bhatta Parsaul.
Gandhi went to Bhatta Prasual, a village near Greater Noida, and spearheaded the agitation there against alleged forcible land acquisition of farmers. It is this agitation that is credited for eventually culminating into the enactment of Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013.
What was the agitation all about?
In May 2011, farmers’ protests rocked western UP against alleged forcible acquisition of their land for public projects by the then Mayawati government.
Bhatta Parsaul was at the centre of this agitation, where farmers protested day and night against the government.
The village turned into a political battleground after four people, including two policemen, were killed in clashes between police and farmers.
In a show of solidarity with the farmers, Gandhi rode a motorcycle pillion, marking a very dramatic entry into Bhatta Parsaul. He sat with the farmers in their agitation for an entire day.
“I feel ashamed to call myself Indian after seeing what has happened here. The (state) government here has unleashed atrocities on its own people,” Gandhi had said at the time.
However, later in the night, Gandhi was arrested by the UP Police and taken to an undisclosed location. He was subsequently released in a few hours.
In July the same year, Gandhi visited Bhatta Parsaul again as the village was one of the stops during his yatra across various other villages of UP. The incident proved instrumental in helping Congress gain popularity and momentum ahead of the 2012 UP assembly elections, and also aiding anti-Mayawati sentiments.
Also read: UP Congress call for statewide protest against detention of Rahul Gandhi & Priyanka Gandhi
Missing 2015 padyatra
While Gandhi’s visit to Bhatta Parsaul got etched in public memory, he missed out on going to the village again in 2015 — when the Congress organised a padyatra in the state.
The foot march was taken out from Bhatta Parsaul to the Parliament to protest against the land acquisition bill brought in by the BJP-led NDA government, which diluted several provisions of the 2013 legislation.
However, Gandhi was at the time on a sabbatical to reflect on the party’s future course, giving the crucial march a miss.
Also read: Why Rahul & Priyanka Gandhi were arrested — the laws they broke in their march to Hathras
Rahul Gandhi arrived 9 years ago, he is arriving again today.
Don’t dignify Rahul Gandhi’s visit as a protest. He and his family is addicted to tragedy tourism. He should share some of his illgotten wealth with the poor family of the victim. What would be a better gesture.