LUCKNOW/JHANSI: What was being projected as a matter of pride for UP Congress on Sunday when huge crowds gathered for the Pink Marathon organized under the party’s campaign "Ladki Hoon Lad Sakti Hoon" brought some "uneasy" moments for the partymen when some videos of the event went viral showing some participants using the slogan to counter the mismanagement at the event in Lucknow and Jhansi.
While the Lucknow district administration denied permission to the event citing Covid restrictions, the events went on as per schedule in Jhansi.
A large number of girls had turned out for the Pink Marathon in Lucknow and Jhansi, organized on the call by Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. The top three winners were to be given scooties while 25 smartphones and 100 fitness bands were also to be awarded at the event.
The overwhelming response from young girls and women at both the centers initially left the organizers jubilant and the party functionaries shared the videos of the gathering on Sunday morning. However, what came as a dampener when some participants were seen hailing PM Modi and CM Yogi (in Jhansi) and criticizing Congress and former party president Rahul Gandhi (in Lucknow) over mismanagement. Videos of this development went viral too.
In Lucknow, hundreds of participants gathered at 1090 crossing for the Pink Marathon early morning on Sunday. This when the district administration had denied permission for the event on Saturday itself but this was apparently not communicated to all the participants.
Those who turned up for the event were greeted by heavy police deployment at the venue. The confusion that prevailed left the girls visibly disturbed. Claiming that they had no information about cancellation or rescheduling of the event, a section of girls started raising anti-Congress and anti-Rahul Gandhi slogans which left the Congress workers embarrassed.
Eyewitnesses claimed that BJP supporters passing by took advantage of the chaos and started hailing their leaders PM Narendra Modi and UP CM Yogi Adityanath. Videos of the same were seen doing rounds on social media later.
To counter the impression, UP Congress released a series of videos and pictures showing that the girls had so much faith in their leader Priyanka Gandhi that they came to participate in the marathon despite the odds created by last-minute cancellation. The said event is now slated to take place at the Atal Bihari Vajpayee Ekana International Stadium on Tuesday.
Accusing the ruling BJP of causing the confusion in Lucknow, UP Congress spokesperson Vikas Srivastava said: "The ruling BJP has always created obstacles in the path of women. They have remained restless from the time our leader challenged the cliché of caste and religion-based politics and dedicated the 2022 election campaign to women. It is for this that they denied permission to us and have now restricted us to a new venue. The message was conveyed to the cadres but the women who reached the 1090 square on Sunday morning were women from different walks of life who have faith in our leaders."
In Jhansi at least 6,000 girls and young women participated in the five-kilometer women’s mini marathon organized by the Congress amid reports of chaos at the venue. Here some participants accused the organizers of passing wrong judgment leading to resentment and raised slogans, video of which went viral on social media later on. Eyewitnesses said an unexpectedly huge response to the event also added to the confusion.
Congress leader and former Union minister, Pradeep Jain Aditya however denied there was any chaos or resentment among the girls. In fact, he called it a grand success and claimed that the congress initiative was about to change history. Organizer of the event and Congress member Rahul Richariya admitted that deliberate attempts were being made by unknown persons to disrupt the programme.
