"Congress delegation will visit Sambhal on Dec 2": Congress' Ajay Rai

Varanasi (Uttar Pradesh) [India], November 30 (ANI): Amid the chaos over Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation being stopped by the police from visiting Sambhal, Uttar Pradesh Congress President Ajay Rai on Saturday informed that his party's delegation was also visiting the violence-affected district in the state on December 2.
The Congress leader further said that everyone should stand up against the oppression and injustice happening.
"Everyone should stand up against wherever oppression and injustice is happening. Congress delegation will be visiting Sambhal on 2nd December because they (the district administration) had put restrictions till December 1. I am not aware of the further developments. We will leave around 9:00 AM from the party office. We will apprise the national leadership of Congress about the incident which was deliberately done by the police and state government," UP Congress president Ajay Rai told ANI.
His reaction comes after the Samajwadi Party (SP) delegation including MLAs and MPs was stopped by the Uttar Pradesh Police from visiting Sambhal.
Uttar Pradesh Samajwadi Party (SP) President Shyam Lal Pal on Saturday was put under house arrest, the official handle of SP claimed on X. The SP condemned the actions of the UP Police while accusing the state government of "disgracing" the Constitution and democracy.
"Yogi government is afraid of SP delegation! On the orders of the government, the police prevented the honourable state president Shri Shyam Lal Pal ji from coming to Sambhal and put him under house arrest. The BJP government is tearing apart the constitution and democracy. Highly condemnable," the Samajwadi Party posted on X.
Earlier in the day, SP leader Mata Prasad Pandey was also stopped by the police from visiting Sambhal amid heavy police deployment outside his residence. SP leaders Zia Ur Rehman Barq and Harendra Malik were also stopped by the UP police while they were travelling to Sambhal from New Delhi.
The Supreme Court on Friday asked Uttar Pradesh to ensure "harmony and peace" in Sambhal and directed the trial court there not to proceed in the suit against the Jama Masjid till the petition filed by the Masjid Committee against the survey order is listed in the High Court.
A bench of Chief Justice of India Sanjiv Khanna and Justice Sanjay Kumar directed that the report of the advocate commissioner, who surveyed the mosque, should be kept in a sealed cover and should not be opened in the meantime.
Tensions in Sambhal had been simmering since the local court ordered a survey of the mosque on November 19. Opposing the court-ordered survey of the Jama Masjid people clashed with police, resulting in the deaths of four persons. The survey followed a petition filed by some persons in the local court, claiming that the site of the mosque was previously a Harihar temple. (ANI)