Normally suave and subtle, Sonia Gandhi surprised everyone by openly defying the Mayawati government and touring her Rae Bareli constituency
LUCKNOW: Normally suave and subtle, Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday surprised everyone by openly defying the Mayawati government and touring her Rae Bareli constituency despite prohibitory orders issued on Monday. An “angry” Congress chief even dared her BSP counterpart to arrest her.
“This (Rae Bareli) is like home to me. How can anyone stop me from going to my home... I am ready to go to jail,” a visibly agitated Sonia Gandhi told reporters on Tuesday on her arrival at Lalganj where her dream project — a Rs1,000-crore rail coach factory — was to come up.
The Mayawati government on Sunday cancelled the land allotted for the project, though the Allahabad High Court has stayed that order. Hours after the high court order on Monday, the state government imposed prohibitory orders under section 144 of the CrPC to foil Sonia’s proposed public meeting at the site. Even her route was changed to prevent her from visiting the disputed coach factory site.
Congress leaders told DNA that Sonia was “seething in anger” on being told that the route of her cavalcade had been changed by local authorities on the pretext of security. She wanted to visit the rail coach factory site , they said.
Sonia was to participate in the bhoomi puja ceremony at the site on Tuesday but that programme had to be cancelled in view of the court case.
But the very fact that she refused to cancel her visit signalled that she was in no mood to let Mayawati browbeat her. Even the top UP Congress leaders accompanying her were taken by surprise when she challenged Mayawati to arrest her. “Rae Bareli and Amethi have been the ‘karmabhoomi” of Feroze Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi, and are now ‘karmabhoomi” for Rahul and myself,” Sonia said.
She alleged that the state government had deliberately stalled at least eight Central government projects apart from the rail coach factory project. “We will do whatever is necessary (to protest against this)... I am even ready to go to jail,” she said.
Sonia went on a road show through Rae Bareli, waving out to people who had gathered all along her route.
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