The wrangling in Uttar Pradesh Youth Congress took an ugly turn when disgruntled YC leader Asif Rizvi attempted to immolate himself before Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal.
The wrangling in Uttar Pradesh Youth Congress took an ugly turn when disgruntled YC leader Asif Rizvi attempted to immolate himself before Union human resource development minister Kapil Sibal at a public function on Sunday.
UP Congress president Rita Bahuguna Joshi and AICC general
secretary Digvijay Singh were also on the dais when the unseemly incident occurred.
Rizvi was taken into police custody. Police said he did not suffer burns as other YC workers prevented him from striking the match.
The YC leader had poured kerosene on himself and stepped right in front of the stage when Sibal was addressing the gathering. But YC workers overpowered him just in time.
Rizvi had recently been debarred from contesting organisational elections after getting an argument with returning officer Meghna Patel. He had been on hunger strike at the UPYC office here for a week now.
The UPYC elections have been marred by a series of controversies. Violence and allegations of bias could wreck Rahul Gandhi’s dream of having a strong youth brigade in UP in time for state elections in 2012.
The seminar, titled Governance issues in UP, however, continued after the incident. Congress leaders refused to attach importance to the self-immolation bid, calling it a “drama”. Congress state unit spokesman Dwijendra Tripathi said Rizvi was resorting to “gimmicks” as he had been expelled for indiscipline.
Meanwhile, the HRD minister used the seminar to criticise the Mayawati government for creating hurdles in the implementation of Right to Education Act.
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