To make a symbolic protest against the statement of Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made a surprise visit to a Dalit hamlet in Lucknow on Friday and took up broom to clean the locality.
"Sweeping with brooms is a symbol of self-respect and simplicity and crores of women and sweepers sweep with brooms every day,” commented Priyanka while indirectly reacting to the chief minister’s statement.
She suddenly reached Lavkush Nagar, a Dalit settlement in Indira Nagar, at around 4 pm on Friday and sweeped Valmiki Ashram there.
Earlier, after pictures of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sweeping the floor at Sitapur Guest House went viral, Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath took a jibe at the Congress leader.
"Janata unko isi layak banana chahti hai (people want to make her capable of doing such tasks),” Yogi said during an exclusive conversation with a news channel in Gorakhpur.
A Congress spokesperson alleged that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath had made fun of Priyanka for sweeping the floor with a broom and this showed the Bharatiya Janata party’s anti-Dalit mindset. He said that it seemed that BJP was scared of the 'Durga Avatar' of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and now she would sweep away the BJP from the state.
UP Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu said that Mahatma Gandhi also took a broom and gave a satyagraha and responded to the British, which was history. “Not only UP, women and Dalits of the whole country make this sacrifice every day,” he said.
Attacking Yogi Adityanath, he said that the chief minister’s anti-women, anti-Dalit face had come in front of the people of UP.
Sources said that annoyed with the development, an inquiry had been ordered on how Priyanka was allowed to clean the guest house and even a video of it went viral.
Meanwhile, the Congress has shifted its focus on the ‘Pratigya Rally’ in Varanasi, which is to be addressed by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Sunday.