The Congress on Sunday launched an internal inquiry after a woman party member was allegedly manhandled during an event in Deoria district in Uttar Pradesh (U.P.) after she opposed the nomination of a leader as the party candidate in the upcoming Assembly byelection.
Tara Yadav alleged that the person nominated by the Congress, Mukund Bhaskar Mani Tripathi, was a rape accused. However, Congress sources said there were no formal charges against him and Ms. Yadav was unhappy over being denied ticket.
The ruckus at the local Congress office was caught on camera. In the video, which was circulated widely on social media platforms, Ms. Yadav was seen confronting Congress secretary Sachin Naik during an event on Saturday.
She then allegedly throws a bouquet at him, following which, others present in the hall push and shove Ms. Yadav, while some charge at her. A couple of them also hit her amid the chaos. Ms. Yadav tries to retaliate before others step in to escort her out of the hall.
‘Hurts party’s image’
Ms. Yadav later told presspersons that she was confronting Mr. Naik over the choice of the candidate for the Deoria seat when she was attacked.
“You have given ticket to a rapist. This hurts the Congress’s image in public. You could give it to someone else whose character is clean. As soon as I had said this, somebody there pushed me from behind and started assaulting me,” Ms. Yadav told presspersons. She also said that she received bruises and cuts on her lip, ear and back.
Talking to a news channel, Ms. Yadav said that while the top leadership of the Congress, including general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were “seeking justice for the daughter of Hathras”, the local leadership in Deoria had handed ticket to a “rapist”.
Congress leaders Deen Dayal Yadav and Ajay Kumar Sainthwar were expelled from the party for “indiscipline” during the meeting, said Kaushal Kumar Tripathi, secretary, U.P. Congress.
“The incident is a political conspiracy to defame the Congress,” he said.
A three-member committee was formed by Congress State president Ajay Kumar Lallu to investigate the incident. The committee would submit its report to Mr. Lallu in three days.
