Scuffle at Rahul's rally: FIRs against ministers, Congress cries foul

Allahabad/New Delhi: The Allahabad Police have registered first information reports (FIRs) against two central ministers, Jitin Prasada and RPN Singh, and a senior Congress leader, Pramod Tiwary, for beating up protesting students at the venue of Rahul Gandhi's election campaign rally in Phulpur, Uttar Pradesh, on Monday. The Congress has cried foul and said it's a political conspiracy.

Jitin Prasada is the Minister of State for Road Transport in the UPA government and RPN Singh is Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas. Both have been elected to the Lok Sabha from UP. Pramod Tiwary is the Congress Legislature Party leader in the state. The FIRs have been registered on a complaint by a student, Abhishek Yadav, who has alleged that he was thrashed by SPG personnel and the Congress leaders.

Mr Yadav and three other students were part of a group that breached Rahul Gandhi's security as his helicopter landed at the Phulpur venue. They waved black flags and ran towards the helicopter and were intercepted by policemen and by Congress leaders and workers, who say they were instinctively attempting to protect Mr Gandhi, who enjoys Z category security.

Apart from the three senior Congress leaders, an FIR has also been registered against a member of the UP legislative Council Naseeb Pathan. All four have been charged with assault.

Abhishek Yadav and the other protestors are supporters of the Samajwadi Party youth wing and have said that they were demanding that student union elections be held at the Allahabad University.

Pramod Tiwary, who is the Congress Legislature Party leader in UP, has called it a conspiracy. "FIRs should have been registered against the persons who entered a secure zone and took the law in their own hands. Instead it has been registered against us, who stopped them. I believe this is a political conspiracy. It is a conspiracy of the BSP and the Samajwadi Party."

Much controversy has marked Mr Gandhi's high-voltage entry into the UP election campaign scene on Monday. His remark on UP migrants having to beg in other states has been torn into by the Opposition and even ally NCP has gently cautioned the Congress on it. The actions of his party leaders, caught on camera beating up the protesters, have drawn more flak.

But Pramod Tiwary echoes the larger Congress sentiment - that at the moment that Rahul Gandhi's security was breached, it was important to ensure there was no threat to his life, since the Congress leaders did not know who the protesters were.

"His helicopter had not even landed, the dust had not settled when these nine men advanced towards him, what was their intention? It's very easy to say that they were terrorists or belonged to some political party; all I knew was that they were about to attack Rahul Gandhi and I tried to stop them with all my might," Mr Tiwary had said.

Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said on Monday that those present at the venue did not know who the people were.  "Mr Rahul Gandhi is an SPG protectee. It was a breach of security at the helipad. These three boys jumped over the barricade and virtually came to the door of the helicopter. Anything could have happened, supposing there was someone else?  There was definite breach of security and I think an enquiry should be ordered into that," he said on the NDTV show The Buck Stops Here.