Truth of Lakhimpur Kheri: How Priyanka Gandhi baked political bread on funeral pyres

Opportunistic sympathy is just another form of cruelty to the victim. While the whole nation is still shocked over the lynching in Lakhimpur Kheri, the incident became an opportunity for Priyanka Gandhi to bake her political bread.

Priyanka’s shenanigans in Lakhimpur

As soon as the lynching of BJP workers was pushed as an anti-farmer incident by various media portals, Priyanka Gandhi decided to visit the district. Meanwhile, police officers handling the law-and-order in the district were aware of the possible repercussions of her political tour of Lakhimpur. The officers decided to detain her in an attempt to prevent further political ruckus.

Seeing her stunts on the verge of failure, Priyanka Gandhi started to threaten the police officers. In a viral video, she is seen accusing police personnel of using force on her. “Are you forcing me to sit in this (police vehicle)? Are you trying to kidnap me?”– She said. When a police officer offered to arrest her instead of detention, she said- “Arrest me. I will go happily with you.”

Threatening police officers of false molestation cases for doing their duty, she said-“You are pushing me. If you keep doing so, it will attract cases of assault, attempt to kidnap, kidnap, attempt to molest, attempt to harm. Are you getting me? I understand everything. Try to touch me.” She also played the woman card by telling already trained police officers to learn to talk with women.

Lutyens’ try to create a resurgence narrative

Meanwhile, as usual, the Lutyens’ media started to project this threat as an act of bravery. Influential people from the Indian public space even praised her for this unruly and combative behaviour. Rajdeep Sardesai went a step further in calling her tour a Belchi moment for Priyanka Gandhi. In 1977, after the imposition of emergency, Indira Gandhi was rendered a political pariah. During that time, Belchi village in Patna saw some acts of Dalit atrocities. Riding on the back of support from the friendly media, Indira Gandhi visited the village which resurrected the drowning boat of congress.

Meanwhile, Priyanka Gandhi has decided to sit on hunger strike following her detention.

From the last 20 odd years, elections and Priyanka Gandhi have developed a pair-bonding. Whenever or wherever an election is nearing, whether it is a state election or the national one, she picks a controversial issue and starts her election campaign for congress. The media, friendly to the Congress party jumps in and starts comparing her sometimes to Indira Gandhi and at times to Sonia Gandhi, and tries to arouse the feelings of masses towards her. But as soon as the election campaign is over, she tends to disappear only to return for the next election.