New delhi, February 18: A day after Congressmen — including senior leaders —were lathicharged in Lucknow, the party’s state president Rita Bahuguna Joshi announced a state-wide protest on February 22.
The Congressmen, she said, will send memorandums marked to the Governor, demanding dismissal of Mayawati-led government. The party workers will hold demonstrations in every district and the day will be marked as “Virodh Divas”.
“I am ready to take a beating 100 times if it has to be that way, but she (Mayawati) is the Chief Minister and has to be transparent and accessible to the people,” said Joshi. “We do not want a mere resignation of Mayawati, we want dismissal of the government because of the prevalent gundaraj,” she said.
Joshi, along with Prabha Thakur, the Congress MP from Rajasthan, were leading the protest of Mahila Congress on Tuesday, when the police lathicharged them.
The delegation of 11 senior women leaders wanted to meet Mayawati. They had sought an appointment to discuss crime against women in the state. A reminder was sent to the Chief Minister’s office on February 13, but they did not receive any response.
Warning the officers who resorted to lathicharge, Joshi said the party is keeping tabs on them. “We are keeping watch on all officers in the administration and police who are working to please the chief minister. The present government is promoting such officers. But just remember, one day our government will come to power,” she said.
She also attacked Mayawati for the security lapse during the recent visits of Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit and senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh to Bareilly.
“When her own security personnel were left behind by a few meters in Chhattisgarh, she demanded the resignation of the prime minister and has since started taking her own security IG with her,” Joshi said. “But she does not care for the security of other chief ministers. We were left at the mercy of crowds in Bareilly.”
Joshi seeks reportGovernor B L Joshi has sought a report from the state government in connection with the Tuesday’s protest rally in Lucknow where police had resorted to lathicharge on protesting women members of the Congress party. The governor has also sought report on the alleged security lapses during the February 11 visit of the Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in Bareilly where she had gone to offer chadar at Bareilly Sharif.
—-Agencies