IS Bhatta Parsaul Rahul's 'proper' launchpad?

The Congress has kicked off the Uttar Pradesh assembly election campaign against state Chief Minister Mayawati with the party signaling in no uncertain terms that Rahul Gandhi would be at the centre stage of the fight for UP, a battle which is set to last for the next one year as Hindi heartland's biggest state becomes the battleground.

Rahul is expected to launch a strong attack against Mayawati when he inaugurates the party's Uttar Pradesh Congress Committe convention in Varanasi on Wednesday. Sonia Gandhi is expected to deliver the concluding address on May 19.

Since both Sonia and Rahul are members of Parliament from UP, the party convention is expected to create the much-needed buzz for the congress party as both the mother and son would signal the need for the party to fight till the finish, "till UP is rescued from casteist and communal forces" and Congress is restored to its old glory.

Rahul has already sounded the trumpet in Bhatta Parsaul village in Greater Noida where he has accused the Mayawati government of mass murder, rape and looting, bringing the fight to the prime minister's doorstep.

The Congress kept the issue alive on Tuesday by demanding a Central Bureau of Investigation enquiry into the Bhatta Parsaul killings.

Taking a delegation of eight farmers with him from the village, Rahul told the prime minister that many farmers have been killed and that he has proof of the bodies being burnt.

He later released pictures of what he has called mass graves in the area to the media, as proof.

"They wanted to meet the PM, so I facilitated this," he told mediapersons after the meeting.  "People are being murdered...there is a pile of ashes, 70-feet high, with dead bodies inside in Parsaul and Bhatta villages. Women have been raped, people have been thrashed, houses have been destroyed. Severe atrocities are taking place there," Rahul had said.

The Uttar Pradesh government has denied all the allegations. Four people, including two farmers, were killed last week as farmers clashed with the UP police over greater compensation.

"We demand a CBI or judicial inquiry into the incident. Why is the Mayawati government not allowing mediapersons to Bhatta-Parsaul? Why is the National Human Rights Commission not being allowed to go to the village if the government has nothing to hide?" said Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari.

On the other hand, Commissioner of Meerut division, Bhuvnesh Kumar said, "Eighty per cent farmers have accepted the compensation. All allegations of firing and molestation are baseless."

The Mayawati-led Bahujan Samaj Party has questioned the authenticity of these photos. "The question of judicial inquiry comes once the authenticity of the photographs is determined.

Unless the authenticity of the photographs is determined, the UP government will do as they feel right. If they feel the photographs are genuine, they will take necessary steps," said BSP member of legislative assembly Syed Kazim Ali Khan.

The Central Forensic Science Laboratory in Agra has, meanwhile, collected the samples of the ash for analysis. These samples were taken last night. 

Last week, Gandhi had sneaked past an extensive network of UP policemen into Parsaul-Bhatta early in the morning. He spent the day with farmers before being arrested. He was released later in the night, and escorted back across the UP border.

The area has been tense since the police and farmers exchanged fire two weekends ago , that claimed four lives. Villagers claim that policemen and local administration officials have been attackin their homes and families since then.

Congress sources say that even if some of the claims by Rahul on what exactly happened in village Bhatta Parsaul are exaggerated, the onus is now on the state government to prove that he is being economical with the truth.

On his part, he has effectively managed to galvanise a moribund Congress in Uttar Pradesh to mobilise votes, and create the right atmosphere by which the party can capitalise on its sterling performance during the Lok Sabha elections in 2009.

The year-long battle is just taking off, and Congress leaders believe that Bhatta Parsaul has given the party the much-needed hype to take this battle to the people of Uttar Pradesh.