President of Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee Ajay Rai on Monday claimed that the Yogi Adityanath-led government is afraid of the Congress assembly siege programme on the coming Wednesday, hence using official machinery to stop the workers and leaders from coming to the state capital.

Addressing journalists here at the party’s state headquarters on Monday, Rai said that the people of the state are suffering due to the “misrule” of the Yogi government.

“The Yogi government, which has completely failed on every issue related to the people, is scared of Congress’s programme of gherao of the Vidhan Sabha,” he added.

He said that Yogi Adityanath has ordered the Uttar Pradesh director general of police to instruct the police officers of the districts that, no matter what it takes, no Congress worker should be able to leave home and reach Lucknow.

“Action will be taken against the officers of the districts from where Congress workers reach Lucknow. Due to this instruction, the police in the districts have started threatening and terrorising our workers,” Rai said.

“Yogiji has forgotten the day when he cried bitterly in Parliament due to fear of the same police, and everyone had supported him then. Today, sitting on the post of chief minister, he is terrorising political workers with the power of the same police, filing thousands of cases, crushing democratic rights, and stopping dharnas, demonstrations, agitations, and sieges. Rai said the BJP has forgotten that it came to power on the strength of protests in the first place and it is also forgetting that it will not be in power in 2027. “Whatever it is doing today, they will have to face the same once out of power,” he added.

Rai warned the government that none of the Congress workers should be stopped.

“We are a Gandhian party and know the limits of the movement. Fascism has not yet fully arrived in India, and there is still democracy, so the Congress will not tolerate any attempt to kill democracy. When we were not afraid of the British, then why would we be afraid of the informers and agents of the British?” Rai said.

He called upon the workers to reach Lucknow no matter what they do. “They have to surround the state assembly and show the mirror to the government that its jungle raj cannot be tolerated anymore,” Rai said.

He asked the workers to give themselves up for arrest in case the police tried to forcibly stop them.

Rai also warned the police officers to stay within their limits and not kill democracy under the pressure of the government.

“It is the right of a political party to protest peacefully, and this is a fight between the government and the Congress. Do not make it a fight between the Congress and the police, or else remember that we are coming to power in 2027 and we will note down the name of every officer who oppresses the workers and will then hold them accountable,” Rai said.

He added that what could be worse than this degradation, where Income Tax and ED are pressurising people and making the leaders of opposition parties join the BJP and forcing people to commit suicide.

Rai alleged that corruption is at its peak and inflation is skyrocketing.

“There is a flood of kidnappings, murders, robberies, rapes, and suicides by distressed farmers and youth, and the government wants to keep the people engaged in unnecessary issues and issues that spread hatred in society. The credibility of the government is at its lowest point. Complete jungle rule has been established in Uttar Pradesh and this cannot be tolerated anymore, so the Congress will fight against it every day, everywhere, and on every issue,” Rai said.

Meanwhile, on the first day of the winter session of the state assembly, Congress raised the issue of violence in Sambhal and Bahraich.

Expressing concern over the growing communal violence in the state, the Congress demanded a discussion in the House and accused the government of not being able to stop the violence and avoiding giving answers by accusing BJP of complicity in it.

Congress Legislature Party Leader Aradhana Mishra Mona demanded a discussion in the assembly under Rule 311 on the increasing communal violence and rising crimes in the state and blamed the majority BJP government for failing to stop crime and communal violence in the state and running away from its responsibilities.

Mona said that communal violence is continuously increasing in Uttar Pradesh, due to which there is a lot of fear and anxiety about the safety of life among the people of the state.

She said that on the evening of October 13, 2024, a youth named Ramgopal Mishra died due to firing during the immersion of a Durga idol in Maharajganj town of Mahsi tehsil of Bahraich.

“The same people are involved behind this who do politics on the basis of religious polarisation. Many people were injured in this incident. After this, on November 24, 2024, four people died and 30 policemen were injured in a violent incident of firing and stone pelting due to tense situations during the survey process in Sambhal district. The BJP government with full majority is avoiding discussions and answers on such serious issues which are affecting the public of the state. This makes it clear that the government is failing and hence is avoiding answers. The current BJP MLA there got an FIR registered against his district president. This shows that the BJP is connected to these incidents,” she pointed out.

Mona said that such incidents are creating a feeling of insecurity along with fear and anxiety in the minds of people across the state, due to which anger and resentment is also increasing among the people.

She also raised the issue of the deaths of children in Jhansi Medical College due to fire and said that people are angry and resentful due to the poor health conditions in the state. She said that there are no proper arrangements for fire safety in all the hospitals of the state, incidents keep happening due to lack of proper arrangements as per the standards, but the government is not learning any lessons from the incidents.