Challenging Mayawati, Sonia Gandhi says Rae Bareli is my `Karma Bhoomi'

Rae Bareli (Uttar Pradesh), Oct.14 (ANI): Describing Rae Bareli as her "Karma Bhoomi" or "Realm of Action", Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday criticised Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati for trying to stop her from entering her parliamentary constituency.

Mayawati had diverted Sonia Gandhi's route to Rae Bareli, but Gandhi reached her constituency on Tuesday.

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"Nobody can prevent me from visiting Rae Bareli, my karma bhoomi, even if that means that I have to go to jail while doing so," said Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia also slammed the UP government saying that it was halting development at the cost of politics.

The district has virtually turned into a fortress with the deployment of heavy security for Sonia's visit.

Sonia cancelled her plan to address a rally in the town of Lalganj after the district administration decided to clamp prohibitory orders in the district following the Centre-state dispute over setting up of a rail coach factory here.

Gandhi, however, will visit Lalganj to inspect the Lifeline express train and have an audience with the people of her constituency.

Meanwhile, the police have registered cases, including under the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, against two Congress MLAs - Ashok Singh and Shiv Ganesh Lodhi - and 34 others. Of them, eight people have been arrested.

On Monday, the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court directed the state and the Centre to maintain the status quo on the land allotted to the Railways for setting up of a rail coach factory in Rae Bareli. The Mayawati Government had on Sunday cancelled the allotment of 189.25 hectares of land given to the railways.(ANI)