New Delhi: Despite being denied permission by the Uttar Pradesh government, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday set out to visit the violence-hit villages of Saharanpur district, where caste conflict has left two dead and scores injured.
UP Congress chief Raj Babbar and Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad are also accompanying him.
He is travelling by road after his chopper was denied landing permission by the state administration following Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's order to not allow political leaders from visiting Saharanpur.
Rahul left for Shabbirpur village, the centre of the caste-based violence in the district, this morning after meeting Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
If not permitted to visit the victims in the affected area, Gandhi would court arrest, the sources said.
"They cannot suppress the voice of the poor, Dalits and Adivasis of this country. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party will continue to speak," Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said.
"Nobody will be able to stop Rahul from reaching out to the victims of the violence which have been perpetrated at the instance of BJP gundas," he added.
The Congress party had on Thursday said Adityanath was nobody to stop Rahul Gandhi from visiting Saharanpur.
"The permission has been denied based on the state policy of keeping the region out of bounds for leaders until the situation returns to normal," Additional Director General (ADG) Law and Order Aditya Mishra had clarified yesterday.
Sources said that as the violence broke out soon after Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati's visit, the Chief Minister's Office asked district officials not to grant any permission to political leaders to visit the area in future.
Earlier, former union minister Kumari Shailja and senior Congress leader PL Punia were denied permission to visit Saharanpur.
(With Agency inputs)
