Rahul's UP foray puts Mayawati govt on backfoot

Congress General Secretary Rahul Gandhi's disguised entry to the troubled spot in Greater Noida, where local farmers are on a warpath against 'inadequate compensation' for their acquired land, has put the Mayawati government in Uttar Pradesh on the back-foot.

Her entire administration was visibly at their wit's end in handling the inimitable Gandhi scion, who is known for giving jitters to the UP government by springing surprises like he did on Wednesday morning by sneaking into Bhatta-Parsaul village in Greater Noida, where last week's large scale violence left four dead. These included two policemen and two farmers.

Hoodwinking all the heavy police deployment, Rahul Gandhi reached the heavily guarded village in disguise on a motor-bike well before dawn at about 4.30 am. After taking a round of the village, he sat on an indefinite dharna in solidarity with the demands of the farmers.

While the chief minister is understood to have taken some local officials to task for the miserable intelligence failure in keeping a tab on Rahul Gandhi's secret mission, top officials of the state are unwilling to make any comment on Gandhi's 'indefinite dharna.'

"We have not received any official communication about his dharna," Home Secretary Deepak Kumar told mediapersons in Lucknow on Wednesday evening.

Asked if his dharna was not in violation of the state government's recently imposed restrictions on all demonstrations or agitations, Kumar said, "Well that is for the local district administration to decide."

Even though no prior request was made for seeking permission to stage the dharna, which is mandatory as per the new regulations, either Special Director General of Police Brij Lal or Kumar declined to say anything on that.

"No formal request was made so far," they said, while confessing that the recently revised order of the government prescribes several preconditions for granting permission to any kind of protest or demonstration.

Brij Lal could not clarify if Rahul's dharna warranted police action against him for violating the new rule of the government and whether the young Congress leader's unannounced and disguised entry could pose a security threat.

"Well, as far as we are concerned, all security is being provided to him as per his entitlement as a SPG covered VIP;
besides, he also has his own SPG men," Lal pointed out, while avoiding any comment on Gandhi's defiance of the new restrictions.

When a scribe sought to know what time the state government was informed about the Congress general secretary's visit to some part of Uttar Pradesh, the home secretary quipped, "Well, at 8 am today."

Asked if any representative of the state government had held any dialogue on the issue of the farmers with Rahul Gandhi, the home secretary said, "The local additional district magistrate did meet him."

Even as Gandhi had threatened to indefinitely continue his dharna in support of the farmers' demand, the Mayawati government cannot make up its mind whether to take him on or to concede his demands.