New Delhi [India], October 4 : Amid chaos over the 'I Love Muhammad' row, Congress leader Rashid Alvi on Saturday slammed the Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh after a Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation was stopped from visiting Bareilly, and said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) doesn't want the truth to come out.
"BJP does not want the truth to come before the country. Priyanka Gandhi used to get arrested whenever she visited a victim in UP. If any opposition leader wanted to go to Bareilly, why would the administration be forced to stop them outside? This shows that they have something to hide," Alvi told ANI.
His remarks come after a delegation of the Samajwadi Party, including Mohibbullah Nadvi, Iqra Hasan, and Harendra Singh Malik, en route to Bareilly following last week's 'I Love Mohammad' row, was stopped at the Ghazipur border by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
Meanwhile, the Samajwadi Party termed the move "undemocratic" and said it was aimed at suppressing the voices of opposition.
Launching a scathing attack on the ruling BJP government, SP MP Iqra Hasan accused it of suppressing dissent and "denying people their democratic rights".
Addressing the media, Hasan said, "How many times will they stop us? We will not bow down to this government; this government is running unconstitutionally. We will never bow down to them; they will stop us once, twice, 10 times, but we will definitely reach there among our people to listen to their pain and support them."
The SP MP alleged that the administration, "acting under pressure from the ruling party", has been curbing the freedom of citizens and representatives to move freely and voice their concerns.
"Wherever someone asserts their rights, this government treats them similarly. Ladakh is one of them, and Bareilly is another. The situation in Sambhal, where we were prevented from going, was also created by the administration there under pressure from the ruling party, and this is now being played out as propaganda in Bareilly," she said.