Lucknow: UP Congress president Ajay Lallu said he is not squeamish about going to jail but added that the Yogi Adityanath government had deliberately implicated him in a false case over the bus controversy.
Lallu had spent nearly a month in jail after being arrested on 20 May over allegations that he provided false documents regarding the 1,000 buses that senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had promised to ferry migrants of the state home.
He had been booked by the police after the state government said a list of 1,000 buses submitted by the party to ferry migrant workers contained registration numbers of auto rickshaws, cars and trucks. The state Congress president finally secured bail on 16 June.
In an exclusive interview with ThePrint, Lallu said the Congress had submitted a simple proposal before the Yogi government with a genuine wish to help migrant workers.
“When someone extends a helping hand, this government lodges FIRs against him. What kind of democracy is it where the government keeps murdering it on a daily basis?” Lallu asked. “I was entangled in a fabricated case. Someone should tell me about the crime I committed. It is probably because I am the state president of a party that extended a supporting hand towards workers and submitted a proposal to arrange 1,000 buses.”
He, however, added that this was not the first time that he had to go to jail and that he had been imprisoned on as many as 21 occasions. “I am not scared of cases. I have gone to jail on 21 different occasions,” he said. “In UP’s politics, FIRs are like rewards and medals while jail is just like a second home.”
Lallu also reiterated that even the Allahabad High Court observed, while granting him bail, that the matter should have been resolved at the trial courts.
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‘Documents of buses were not fake or falsified’
The Yogi government has claimed that as many as 463 buses that the Congress provided had either fake or forged documents. Countering this, Lallu said the Rajasthan government’s transport department had found documents of “all 1,032 buses to be genuine”, adding that the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Sachin Pilot had himself confirmed this fact. The buses had been brought from Rajasthan.
According to Lallu, this issue was more about “intent” rather than the buses.
“The Yogi government had no intention of using the buses provided by the Congress party, which is why they started indulging in politics after giving consent in the first place,” he said. “Blatant lies were also uttered on the issue of submitting bills for buses used to bring back students.”
“The UP transport department had sought assistance from the Rajasthan transport department to bring back the children stranded in Kota and they themselves had asked for the bill. Then when Rajasthan submitted the bill, the UP government started accusing the state Congress government of having a shallow heart,” he added.
“They would never know how big-hearted the Congress party is. During the lockdown, our workers were slugging it out day and night to help people while BJP members cooled their heels sitting at home.”
‘Wrong to say that the party did not back me’
When Lallu was in jail, a section of the party initially raised questions on why the Congress’ bigwigs were silent on his arrest. They also pointed out that even though the FIR was also lodged against Sandeep Singh, Priyanka Gandhi’s personal secretary, only Lallu was arrested.
Most of the top brass in UP Congress also remained silent on the issue while former party president Rahul Gandhi only tweeted a week after Lallu’s arrest.
But the UP Congress president said that it would be wrong to say that the party did not back him.
“If they had not supported me, then how did I manage bail? A senior and reputed advocate like Abhishek Manu Singhvi was deputed to handle my case,” he said. “Priyankaji wrote an article for me. Rahulji sent out tweets. All senior leaders fully supported me.”
He also made plain his admiration for Rahul Gandhi.
“I am a proud soldier of Rahul Gandhi,” Lallu said. “In 2017, he expressed confidence in me by appointing me as the CLP leader. In such a situation, how can anyone even think that he is not with me? I also enjoy full support and backing of all the senior UP Congress leaders. Many demonstrations were held in several places to protest against my arrest. As many as 69 cases were filed against a number of Congress workers at different places. The entire organisation is with me.”
‘Will expose the government’s hollow claims’
On the party’s future strategy, Lallu said that the time had come to “expose the hollow claims of this government”. “People should be told about the reality behind the government’s tall claims of having provided all kinds of amenities to the people during lockdown. Our workers will visit all villages and observe the ground reality while maintaining social distancing,” he said. “Then it will be presented before the public.”
According to Lallu, if the need arises, the party will take to the streets against the “oppressive Adityanath government”.
“Even if I have to go to jail again, I will not back out,” he said. “I am not among those who give up easily. On the one hand, opposition parties like SP and BSP are meekly sitting at home while Congress party can be seen fighting on the roads. Whether it is a case of Dalit oppression in Sonbhadra or rape cases involving MLA Kuldeep Sengar in Unnao and the Chinmayanand scandal in Shahjahanpur or the DHFL scam, the Congress has been the first to raise every issue vociferously. This is the reason why the Yogi government is imprisoning Congress leaders in fabricated cases.”
Lallu also said that the UP Congress will fight the 2022 UP assembly elections under Priyanka Gandhi and without any alliance. According to Lallu, Priyanka Gandhi maintained close contacts with the party workers even during the lockdown by utilising the digital medium.
“She will soon visit UP after the situation is normal,” he said. “In the coming days, the Congress party will continue to lead protests on the streets and simultaneously boost its reach via digital platforms.
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