By IANS,
New Delhi : Congress president Sonia Gandhi Thursday expressed “deep pain and anguish over the events in Uttar Pradesh” – an offensive remark of state Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi against Chief Minister Mayawati as well as the violence in Lucknow allegedly unleashed by Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) activists.
Congress general secretary Janardan Dwivedi conveyed to reporters that the party chief has expressed “deep pain and anguish” over what has happened in Uttar Pradesh.
He said the Congress holds women in the highest esteem and does not believe in crossing the limits of propriety even in the most provocative of circumstances.
Dwivedi also said that “atrocities against women, especially those belonging to weaker sections, needed to be addressed effectively by the UP government without delay”.
On the arson attack and ransacking of Joshi’s residence in Lucknow, Dwivedi said, “The credibility and fairness of the Mayawati regime would also be on test on the way it deals with arsonists”.
Dwivedi said the Congress will demand an explanation from Joshi after she comes out of jail. “We will see what can be done after that,” he said when asked if she will be asked to step down as state Congress chief.
Dwivedi refused to comment when asked about Mayawati’s statement that Congress workers were involved in the arson at Joshi’s house in Lucknow.
Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh, Digvijay Singh, however, demanded a Central Bureau of Investigation enquiry into the arson attack on Joshi’s house and said it was “absolutely false” that Congress workers were involved.
“At the time of the fire (at Joshi’s house), the media was informed. Police was there. The arsonists raised slogans in favour of Mayawati and against Joshi,” Singh said.
The state Congress chief was Thursday sent to Moradabad jail for 14 days on the charge of insulting Mayawati, after members of the BSP set fire to Joshi’s home in Lucknow late Wednesday night.
Around the time her house was being attacked, Joshi was arrested in Ghaziabad en route to New Delhi. She was charged under the Scheduled Castes and the Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989, for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Mayawati.