Congress Workers Dies UP Assembly Gherao In UP; Ajay Rai, Other Party Leaders Detained

The security was tightened in Lucknow after Congress leader Rai announced that his party would gherao the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to protest against the policies of the state government.

Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai stages a protest after police prevented the party delegation from going towards violence-hit Sambhal, outside party office in Lucknow.

Source : PTI

UP Congress Chief Ajay Rai and other party leaders were detained during a protest march against the Yogi Adityanath-led state government outside the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow.

"We will throw out the Yogi government from power in 2027,” Rai told reporters from a bus after police detained him amid heightened security measures in the state capital to thwart the Congress protest. 

Meanwhile, Congress leader Ajay Rai said that a party worker died due to police brutality during party's attempt to gherao UP Assembly.

The opposition party was protesting against the UP government over issues like farmer distress, unemployment, inflation, privatisation and law and order. 

#WATCH | Uttar Pradesh: State Congress chief Ajay Rai and other leaders were detained by police. They were holding a protest march in Lucknow against the state government. pic.twitter.com/8rnWk33X1i

— ANI (@ANI) December 18, 2024

The security was tightened in Lucknow after Congress leader Rai announced that his party would gherao the Uttar Pradesh Assembly to protest against the policies of the state government. Barricades were set up around the Assembly premises to prevent Congress workers from reaching the protest site, while route diversions severely impacted traffic movement in the city.

The police citing curbs under Section 163 (power to issue an order in urgent cases of nuisance or apprehended danger) of the Bharatiya Nagarik Suraksha Sanhita that are in place in Lucknow, did not allow party workers to move ahead from the party Mall Avenue office.  

Apart from Congress UP chief Rai, state incharge Avinash Pande and several other leaders and party workers were detained.

“The issues affecting farmers, unemployed youth, inflation, and the worsening law and order situation in the state are being overshadowed. The BJP seeks to create religious and caste-based divides to divert attention from their failures. Despite these hurdles, our fight will continue, and we will try to reach the Assembly,” Pande told reporters.

Ahead of the march, several leaders and party workers were put under house arrest by the UP police in their respective districts and not allowed to reach Lucknow.

Rai had said that the BJP government at the Centre and the Yogi Adityanath government in the state were focusing on privatisation and efforts were on to privatise two discoms of the electricity department.