New Delhi, May 15 (IANS): A day after Congress MLA Aditi Singh was attacked by unidentified men in Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli, the Congress on Wednesday hit out at the BJP saying the incident exposes the law and order situation in the state under the Yogi Adityanath government.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters here, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera said that the party will not be deterred by the BJP's tactics of threat, violence, intimidation and criminal conspiracies against its leaders or workers.
"Scared of an imminent defeat at their doorstep, the BJP was using the most reprehensible modus operandi to target its political opponents. Hooliganism and violence is embedded in the character of the BJP," the Congress leader said.
His remarks came a day after Singh was attacked by unidentified men while she was on her way to the district panchayat office where voting was taking place on a no-confidence motion against Panchayat head Avadesh Singh.
The Congress leader said that the BJP's Lok Sabha candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh, who is staring at a monumental defeat in Rae Bareli has unleashed a criminal conspiracy against the Congress, where his brother attacked the convoy of the sitting MLA from Rae Bareli Sadar.
"This is beyond condemnation and requires a full blown investigation so that Awadesh Singh (brother of Dinesh Pratap Singh) and the 15 masked assailants who attacked Singh's convoy should be immediately arrested and face the law," he said.
"Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government of Uttar Pradesh has miserably failed to provide safety and security to members of Panchayat in Rae Bareli who had given notice of no confidence motion against the Chairman of Panchayat Rae Bareli, namely Avadhesh Singh on April 15," he said.
Khera said that despite repeated requests, the Rae Bareli Superintendent of Police colluded with Panchayat head Awadesh Singh under the influence of his brother Dinesh Singh.
Khera said that just prior to the scheduled date of the no confidence motion on May 14 all the police stations lodged FIRs against almost all the elected members and started to take them into custody including their family members.
"They did not spare the ladies and children to create pressure upon the members to support the Chairman," he said, adding that several other Panchayat members, who were on their way to vote against Awadesh Singh, were also stopped from entering the city.
He also alleged that none of the members supporting the no confidence motion were allowed to reach the place of the meeting.
He said that supporters of Congress MLA Aditi Singh were also not spared and they suffered injuries due to the assault by supporters of Dinesh Singh.
"Fifteen masked assailants reportedly opened fire at the convoy of Aditi Singh. These were the people of BJP candidate Dinesh Pratap Singh. The assailants riding in two-three SUVs attacked the convoy twice at the Harchandpur and Baccharawa toll plaza while it was heading from Lucknow to Rae Bareli between 9.40 a.m. and 10 a.m.
"It was nothing but a pre-planned attack to defer the no-confidence motion against Awadesh Singh," he said.
He said that the party demands that the administration and local police take strict action against the culprits and a judicial enquiry must be ordered which will nail the criminal conspiracy by the BJP.