New Delhi:
The Congress has decided to go to court against an FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi in Uttar Pradesh.
Senior minister Kapil Sibal announced this earlier today while attacking Mayawati for what he described as an unprecedented criminalisation of politics in Uttar Pradesh.
Yesterday, local officials in Kanpur objected to Mr Gandhi's roadshow for allegedly violating the terms of permission - the Congress leader's journey lasted six hours instead of two, according to officials. They also say that Mr Gandhi travelled through areas which were off-limits because of huge celebrations for Shivratri.
"We had got the permission," Mr Sibal said, "even then it was known that it would be Shivratri."
"Everybody knew about Shivratri. If the district administration was so concerned, it should have acted on time," he said, adding that the district administration had given permission for the roadshow on February 17 but had withdrawn it at the last minute on the night of February 19 when all the arrangements had been made.
Congress General Secretary Digvijaya Singh says the FIR against Mr Gandhi is politically motivated. "The action against him has been taken after the Lucknow roadshow because of the successful election campaign of the Congress party. It is Mayawatiji under who's orders this action against him has been taken. " Mr Singh said.
Uttar Pradesh is voting for its next government - four rounds of voting have been completed in different parts of the state; another three will be held in the next few weeks. The results will be announced on March 6, along with those of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Goa and Manipur.