Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh Congress has decided to reach out to Brahmin families that have lost loved ones in various crimes during the tenure of the Yogi Adityanath government.
The party has also alleged that a majority of people killed in different crimes in the state belonged to the Brahmin community. Senior Congress leader and former Union minister Jitin Prasada, a Brahmin himself, is on ‘Brahmin Chetna Yatra’ to meet victim families across Uttar Pradesh.
He is also expected to meet the family members of right-wing leader Kamlesh Tiwari who was recently murdered in Lucknow. Tiwari was allegedly killed for his derogatory remarks on Prophet Mohammad.
Senior Congress leader Jitin Prasada started his Yatra from the Mainpuri district where a girl student was found hanging inside a government boarding school. A case of sexual assault and murder was lodged with the police and later, on request of the girl’s family, the state government had even recommended a CBI enquiry. However, CBI is yet to take up the case.
The Congress leader will also meet the kin of Mukesh Sharma, a Meerut-based lawyer who was killed in October, family of journalist Ramesh Mishra who was shot dead in Lakhimpur Kheri. Prasada and family of Aitya Tiwari who was murdered in Basti last month. Prasada has already met the kin of Satya Narayan Shukla in Amethi and Aman Mishra in Kannauj.
The Congress leader claims that officially his Yatra is not named ‘Brahman Chetna Yatra’ but he was invited to meet the families of the victims under the banner of organisation Brahman Chetna Parishad who had organised the programme.
Speaking on the Yatra that is said to be Brahmin centric, Congress leader Jitin Prasad had said, “Our Yatra is not at all focussed for any particular community but isn’t it a matter of concern that most of the people killed in the state recently belong to Brahmin community? The law and order in the state has collapsed completely and now even ministers like Swati Singh are threatening police officers directly. We will not just be meeting the families of the victims but also ensure that they get justice.
The senior Congress leader who was rumoured to resign from Congress during the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, is now on a journey to establish himself a prominent Brahmin face of the party and to consolidate the voters of Brahmin community in the state ahead of 2022 state assembly polls. Jitin Prasad had unsuccessfully contested from Dahurahra parliamentary seat on a Congress ticket in 2019 Lok Sabha Polls.
“It is a good initiative to standby the victims and ensure justice to their families. We will now be able to listen to their plight and share the pain they have been going through,” said Ajay Kumar Lallu, UPCC chief.
However, the BJP has dismissed the move as being purely political. “People in the Congress at times claim they are ‘janeudhari Brahmin’ and on other occasions use the term ‘bhagwa aatankwaad’ (saffron terror). All that Congress cares about is its politics and elections. They have no sympathy for anyone. People who allege about the law and order situation are unaware of the fact that organised crime in the state has come down drastically after the BJP government came into power,” BJP spokesperson Rakesh Triapathi told News18.
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