Lucknow: UPCC chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Friday
said the Uttar Pradesh government has not allowed the Congress
to hold Kisan Mahapanchayat at Bhatta Parsaul village in Noida
on July 9.
She alleged that the Mayawati government has vowed not to
give permission to any programme of Congress general secretary
Rahul Gandhi.
"As an alternative to Bhatta Parsaul, we had suggested
Rajopura and Dhankohar villages near Bhatta Parsaul and Jewar
area but the government did not agree," Joshi told reporters.
She said permission was later sought for organising the
programme in Aligarh district, but that too was disallowed.
"Now we have sought permission to hold the mahapanchayat
in Bulandshahr district and hope to get the approval soon,
she said, adding the congregation would be organised at all
costs and that there would be no change in date.
Union minister Sriprakash Jaiswal, who was also present at
the press conference, said such attitude of the Mayawati
government was "an example of autocracy in the garb of
democracy". The government has put a ban on peaceful
programmes, he said.
Bhatta Parsaul village was the epicentre of a farmers'
agitation against acquisition of their land by the state
government.
PTI
First Published: Friday, July 01, 2011, 21:03