Congress workers deaths: Rahul, Priyanka slam BJP-ruled UP, Assam govts; says kin must get justice

New Delhi: Democracy and Constitution have been murdered again in BJP-ruled Assam and Uttar Pradesh, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday after two party workers died in the two states during protests allegedly due to police excesses.

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra also hit out at the BJP and termed the deaths as "extremely heart-rending".

Rahul Gandhi expressed his deepest condolences to the bereaved families and said they have the right to full justice.

"Democracy and Constitution have been murdered again in BJP-ruled Assam and Uttar Pradesh," he said in a post on X.

Across the country, the Congress party is conducting satyagraha in support of Babasaheb Ambedkar and the Constitution, he said.

During this, the death of our Congress workers Mridul Islam in Guwahati and Prabhat Pandey in Lucknow "due to police excesses" is very sad and condemnable, the Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said.

"The lions of Congress will continue to fight for truth and the Constitution," Gandhi said.

Priyanka Gandhi said the BJP was attacking Baba Saheb in Parliament and crushing his Constitution on the streets.

"Police brutality on Congress workers who were going to gherao the Vidhan Sabha against the prevailing misrule in Uttar Pradesh took the life of one of our worker. The death of youth Congress worker Prabhat Pandey ji of Gorakhpur is extremely heart-rending,” she said in a post in Hindi on X.

Similarly, the BJP government used lathis and tear gas shells on the protesting Congress workers in Assam, in which Mridul Islam died, she said.

“The way the BJP governments have taken repressive action against Congress workers is reminiscent of the British Raj. The BJP is attacking Baba Saheb in Parliament and crushing his Constitution on the streets," she said.

The Congress party claimed that Islam died and several other Congress workers sustained injuries allegedly due to "tear gas smoke" during a protest in Guwahati on Wednesday against a range of issues, including unrest in Manipur and bribery charges against the Adani Group.

A senior police officer, however, said the exact reason for the death would be known after the post-mortem examination report comes, and denied that anyone was injured in the incident.

Police and Congress supporters were engaged in a scuffle, in which Assam Congress chief Bhupen Kumar Borah and former Rajya Sabha MP Ripun Bora fell on the ground, and were detained. They were released later.

Congress Legal Cell member Advocate Mridul Islam, 45, felt suffocated when a tear gas cell fell near him, party spokesperson Bedabrat Bora claimed.

"He was immediately rushed to a nearby private hospital and then to the Gauhati Medical College and Hospital (GMCH). He was declared dead there," he added.

Pandey died during the Congress party's protest near the Uttar Pradesh Assembly in Lucknow, with its state unit chief Ajay Rai claiming that the death was caused by "police brutality".

Police said 28-year-old Pandey, a native of Gorakhpur, was brought dead to the hospital from the Congress office.

"Prabhat Pandey was brought to the Civil Hospital in Hazratganj in an unconscious condition from the Congress office. The doctors declared him 'brought dead'," DCP (Central Lucknow) Raveena Tyagi said.

"Prima facie, according to doctors, there was no visible injury mark on his body. Apart from this, a post-mortem would be done by a panel and the process would be videographed. Accordingly further legal proceedings would be carried out," Tyagi added.

Uttar Pradesh Congress Chief Ajay Rai, in a post on X, said, "Today, while going to gherao the assembly, our young colleague Prabhat Pandey ji passed away due to police brutality."