Comparison in social media: Indira arrested in October so is Priyanka
Darpan News Desk IANS, 05 Oct, 2021 10:58 AM
New Delhi/Sitapur, Oct 5 (IANS) Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra being detained in the wee hours of October 4 and finally arrested on Tuesday could be a defining moment of Indian politics, claim Congress leaders as the coincidence is that Indira Gandhi too was arrested on October 4 in 1977.
Comparisons are on in social media whether this arrest could change the Congress fortunes as after Indira Gandhi's arrest and later in the election in 1980 the Congress returned with a thumping majority.
From her detention Priyanka said, "Modiji, Namaskar... Maine suna hai ki azadi ka amrit mahotsav manane aap Lucknow aa rahe hain, mein aap se pooch na chahti hun ki aapne ye video dekha hai, aapki sarkar ke ek mantri ke bete ne kisano ko kuchal diya, is video ko dekhiye aur desh ko bataiye ke is mantri ko barkhast kyun nahi kiya gya aur is ladke ko giraftar kyun nahi kia gya. (I have heard that you are coming to Lucknow to celebrate 'Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav'. I want to ask you that have you seen the video. The son of one of your cabinet ministers has crushed the farmers. Watch this video and tell the country why hasn't the minister been dismissed and why hasn't this boy been arrested)."
Indira Gandhi was going to meet victims of Belchi and Priyanka Gandhi was also trying to meet the families of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri but was not allowed.
Indira Gandhi was arrested along with four others, K.D. Malaviya, H.R. Gokhale, P.C. Sethi and D.P. Chattopadhyaya.
Indira Gandhi at that time had said that her arrest was political. "I have tried to serve our people and our country to the best of my ability. No matter what the charge or charges now made against me, this arrest is a political one. It is to prevent me from going to the people," Indira Gandhi was quoted as saying.
At that time Indira Gandhi was an opposition leader and had lost the general election post the emergency but was not as weak as the Congress is now. The party has lost two consecutive general elections and the Gandhis are facing internal resistance from senior leaders.
Chief Ministers of Congress-ruled states as well as where the party is in power as part of an alliance, including Tamil Nadu's M.K. Stalin (DMK), Maharashtra's Uddhav Thackeray (Shiv Sena) and Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren (JMM) will also be invited.
Besides, the All India Congress Committee, the Maharashtra and Mumbai verified Congress handles, that of Congress Legislative Party leader and Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Mumbai Congress President Bhai Jagtap, state party social media head Abhijeet Sapkal, and around 500 other leaders at various level have been blocked on Twitter.
Meanwhile, the wreckage of the state roadways bus that fell into a 500 metre deep gorge following the massive landslide was recovered this morning, rescuers said.
Senior Home Ministry officials on Thursday reviewed the status of the investigations in the two rape cases in Delhi with officials of the Delhi Police. The review was done on the instructions of Union Home Minister Amit Shah, the officials said.
All agencies such as the Crime Branch, Intelligence Bureau, Indo-Tibetan Border Police (ITBP) unit, Harayana Police Commandos and Government Railway Police (GRP) have been placed on high alert.
The committee headed by Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) president Ajay Kumar Lallu includes Congress Legislature Party leader Aradhana Mishra, former MPs, MLAs and most of the former UPCC presidents.
