Mumbai: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi will visit Maharashtra’s Parbhani city on Monday to meet the families of two persons who died following violence there earlier this month.
The state BJP, however, has dubbed Gandhi’s visit as a “drama”.
Parbhani witnessed violence after a glass-enclosed replica of the Constitution near Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar’s statue outside the railway station in the city, located in the Marathwada region, was vandalized on the evening of December 10.
According to the schedule shared by Congress leader Vijay Wadettiwar, Gandhi will meet the families of Ambedkarites Somnath Suryavanshi, who allegedly died in police custody, and Vijay Wakode, who died while participating in the protest, PTI reported.
However, Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis recently stated in the state assembly that Suryavanshi had told a magistrate that he was not tortured. Additionally, CCTV footage does not provide any evidence of brutality.
Fadnavis has already announced a judicial probe into the Parbhani violence.
Rahul Gandhi’s move to visit the violence-hit region was dubbed as ‘drama’ by the state wing of the Bharatiya Janata Party.
State BJP chief and revenue minister Chandrashekar Bawankule termed Gandhi’s visit as a “drama”.
“Instead of doing such drama, the focus should be on how the society can be benefited through constructive means. The BJP and the state government are committed to keeping the society and all communities united,” he told reporters.
Calling his visit ‘hypocrisy’, Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC also took a dig at LoP Rahul Gandhi over his Parbhani visit plan, saying that the Congress leader never displayed any concern over the scuffle that took place in parliament.
“Rahul Gandhi is coming to Parbhani by a special flight. He will come to Nanded, go to Parbhani and show that he is with Somnath Suryavanshi’s family.
My question is, when Rahul Gandhi sees such a scuffle outside the House, he does not even come out and is coming here with a special charter? People understand this hypocrisy. We are fully with Parbhani’s Somnath Suryavanshi and his family, although we will never do any politics in this matter,” Shaina NC told ANI.
