Congress won confidence with 'nyay yatra' in Chhattisgarh: Sachin Pilot

Senior Congress leader Sachin Pilot on Wednesday said his party has won the confidence of people through its nyay yatra in Chhattisgarh and the politics of arrogance will not longer work.

The yatra, led by Chhattisgarh Congress chief Deepak Baij, commenced on 27 September from Giraudpuri, the centre of faith for the Satnami community in Balodabazar-Bhatapara district. After covering 125 km in six days, the foot march concluded in Raipur on Wednesday.

Addressing party leaders and workers at Raipur's Gandhi Maidan at the conclusion of the yatra, AICC in-charge for Chhattisgarh Pilot slammed the Union and state BJP governments, accusing them of using Central agencies to "suppress" the voices of his party leaders.

In the last 10 months of BJP rule, criminal offences have been constantly rising in Chhattisgarh and it is unfortunate that the state government, to hide its "failure", has been trying to defame the Congress, he claimed.

"The state government has been implicating Congress leaders on false charges. Be it the BJP government at the Centre or the state, they use income tax (department), CBI and ED to suppress the voices of Congress leaders," Pilot charged.

"Through the nyay yatra, we have won the confidence of people. The politics of arrogance, attack and pressure will not work anymore. You (BJP) have been elected to power, so you must fulfil the promises made in your manifesto instead of intimidating the opposition," he said. People elected the (BJP) government in Chhattisgarh for good governance, but the government here wanted to destroy the Congress, he added.

"We are followers of Mahatma Gandhi. The values of truth, non-violence, goodwill and hard work are within us. But do not mistake our Gandhian thinking, our decency, for our weakness. If you do not stop exploiting people, if you do not stop filing false cases, if you do not stop the politics of vendetta, Congress will give a befitting reply," Pilot added.

Baij, in his address, said the objective of the nyay yatra was to make people aware of the "failure" of the nine-month-old BJP government in the state and claimed the foot march received a huge response. He also invited chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai for a debate on the state's law and order situation.

"The nine-month-old BJP government forced Chhattisgarh to burn. The nine-month-old government has been making Chhattisgarh another Manipur. Incidents of murder, loot, chain snatching, rape are on the rise. Our sisters and mothers are living in fear," he claimed.

Baij said they fought against the deteriorating law and order situation right from the block level to the state level. "We observed Chhattisgarh bandh and staged a Vidhan Sabha gherao to wake up their government from slumber. But now people do not have any expectations from this government," he said.

Baij said BJP leaders, including the CM, targeted the nyay yatra saying the opposition party should apologise to the people instead of seeking justice for them. "I want to ask under which government did incidents like the Jhiram valley attack (2013), killing of 76 jawans in Tadmetla by Naxalites (2010), the Jhaliyamari sexual exploitation case (2013), vandalisation of (Balodabazar) collector and SP office (in June this year), fake encounters, etc happen?" he said.

"Who will answer these questions? I want to challenge CM sahab to a debate. CM sahab, you decide the date, time and venue. I am ready for a debate," he said. The Congress follows principles of Mahatma Gandhi not that of Godse, he added.

Baij also targeted the state government and deputy chief minister Vijay Sharma, who also holds the home portfolio, over the Loharidih incident last month, in which Kachru Sahu, a resident of Loharidih in Kabirdham district, was found hanging from a tree in nearby Bijatola village in Balaghat district of Madhya Pradesh.

On the same day, Loharidih villagers attacked the house of its deputy sarpanch Raghunath Sahu and set it on fire on the suspicion that he had killed Kachru. While Raghunath died in the incident, three members of his family, including his wife, were rescued by police in injured condition and were hospitalised.

Later, another villager Prashant Sahu, who was among 69 people arrested in connection with setting the house of Raghunath on fire, died in judicial custody allegedly after being severely beaten by police.