Greater Noida:
The gloves are off in Uttar Pradesh ahead of next year's elections. And the twin villages of Bhatta-Parsaul are right in the middle of the political battleground. Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi today stepped up the ante against the Mayawati government.
"We've just begun in Bhatta. Beware of our next move," Mr Gandhi said on Wednesday as he threw down the gauntlet. "The Uttar Pradesh government says all is well in Bhatta-Parsaul. Then why Section 144 (prohibitory orders) has been imposed there. If everything is alright, why are people fleeing? If everything is alright, why is a judicial probe not being ordered? Free and fair inquiry is the need of the hour to fix responsibility", Mr Gandhi said. (
Watch: Rahul warns Mayawati)
But while Rahul Gandhi may be on the offensive, his party seems to be on the backfoot defending his allegations of rape and killings of agitating farmers. On Monday, Rahul Gandhi met the Prime Minister with a farmers' delegation and alleged, "People are being murdered, there are large 70-foot ashes there with dead bodies inside. Everybody in the village knows, and we can give you the pictures of those ashes if you want. Women have been raped, people have been thrashed, houses have been destroyed, so that is the main issue here." (
Watch)
The trouble is nobody in the village is backing what Rahul Gandhi alleged. NDTV spoke to Vimlesh, who was part of the farmers' delegation that met the Prime Minister about the alleged police atrocities. Yet even she is not sure what happened in those 48 hours when farmers clashed with the police in Bhatta and Parsaul. Handpicked by the Youth Congress to back Rahul Gandhi's claim, even she is basing her version on hearsay.
"(NDTV: Were women raped?) Yes in Bhatta, not here. I don't know (of a case) but I have heard, in Bhatta," she told NDTV. (
Watch: No one saw the 'rapes')
Many women shared how brutally the police treated them, but no one alleged rape. So now, the Congress is not repeating Mr Gandhi's allegations. Congress General Secretary Janardan Dwivedi told NDTV, "People must have told him. He was not present there. He went there later on, so he must have repeated whatever was told to him." (
Watch: Congress in damage-control mode)
But the BJP, which is also protesting against the Mayawati government's crackdown against protesting farmers, is not willing to let Rahul Gandhi and the Congress forget his allegations about rape and murders.
"When we went there, nobody alleged rape. Rahul Gandhi should clarify who told him she was raped," BJP's Shahnawz Hussain said.
The Uttar Pradesh police has already challenged Rahul Gandhi's claims. BSP's Swami Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said Rahul Gandhi "is using baseless allegations to point fingers at government."