Spokespersons: Shri Rajendra Pal Gautam, Ajay Kumar Lallu and Shri Ravi Verma: AICC SC Department Chairman Shri Rajendra Pal Gautam, along with AICC In-charge (Odisha) & former UPCC President Shri Ajay Kumar Lallu and former MP Ravi Verma, referred to the rape and murder of a girl from the Vishwakarma community in UP’s Ghazipur and questioned the stopping of a Congress delegation en-route to meet the victim’s family. They termed the prevailing situation as an “undeclared and dangerous Emergency.”

The Congress Party launched a scathing attack on the rising incidents of atrocities against Dalits and backward classes in BJP-ruled states, and accused the authorities of suppressing Opposition voices.

They said that the BJP was pursuing a policy of repression and that officials were acting at the behest of those in power to silence the voices of Dalits, backward classes and the Opposition. He said that a Congress team, including Anil Jaihind, himself, Lallu and others, was stopped at Varanasi airport on Monday and prevented from travelling to Ghazipur. He said heavy police deployment was made, the administration cited the imposition of Section 163 to stop the delegation, and the Party leaders were not even allowed to visit the Congress office in Varanasi; instead, they were taken into custody and held for the day.

He demanded that cases be registered against the police officers and the District Magistrate for detaining the leaders and denying them their fundamental rights. Gautam further referred to incidents in Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, highlighting violence against Dalits, and claimed that a significant share of atrocities against Dalits occurs in BJP-ruled states. Shri Ajay Kumar Lallu described the law-and-order situation in Uttar Pradesh as “jungle raj”, citing NCRB data to claim that over 65,000 cases of crimes against women are registered annually in the state. Tuesday April 28, 2026