Priyanka Gandhi to visit Umbha village on Tuesday

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Umbha village on Tuesday to meet the family members of ten Gond tribals who were killed last month over a land dispute, the party said on Monday. The administration has started preparations for the visit, and security arrangements are being initiated in line with her security requirements, an official Congress spokesman said in Sonbhadra.

As per the plan, Priyanka Gandhi will talk to the affected families about the development works in the village and try to get first-hand account of the steps taken by the government for their security after the incident, party sources said. Reacting to the announcement of her visit, the BJP said that she should express regret before the people about the "discrepancies" in land deals in the Congress regime.

BJP spokesman Chandramohan claimed that the Sonbhadra land dispute stared in 1955 when the Congress was in power. Not only in Sonbhadra, but in other places as well fraud and discrepancies were committed in land deals, he said, adding that "she should express regret to the people about discrepancies in land deals in Congress regimes".

"Priyanka is enacting a drama by meeting the victims in Umbha village. She should tell how much land was grabbed in Congress regimes. The party stands exposed before the people," Chandramohan added. Ten people were gunned down and 28 injured when armed men led by a village pradhan clashed with the villagers in a bid to take possession of a disputed piece of land.

Priyanka Gandhi had tried to visit the village after the massacre but was denied permission by the district administration which had promulgated section 144 of the CrPC in view of the prevailing tension. After meeting those injured in the Varanasi hospital, the Congress leader was stopped and detained in Mirzapur on her way to Umbha. She was detained for the night by the district administration at the Chunar fort.

The members of tribal community had met Priyanka Gandhi the next day. The Congress leader had promised monetary help to the affected families which was handed over to them by a delegation of party leaders later.