He humiliated not me but women, Dalits, cleaners: Priyanka on Yogi's remark

Lucknow: Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Friday visited a Dalit locality in Lucknow and picked up a broom, after the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath's dig at her for sweeping the guest house in Sitapur where she was detained.

In a reply to a query over Priyanka Gandhi's act of sweeping the floor, Adityanath earlier in the day had said people want them to be fit only for this and they reduce them to it (janata unko usi layak banana chahti, aur usi layak bana diya).

These people have no work except spreading nuisance and negativity, he said during a programme at a private TV news channel.

Priyanka accused the BJP leader of disrespecting sweepers. She said Adityanath's remark was not against her but crores of women, Dalits and safai karamcharis, who proudly keep the houses and cities clean.

"Today, the chief minister of UP showed his anti-Dalit mentality by giving a casteist statement. Tomorrow, all district Congress committees of UP will clean the Lord Valmiki temples. India will not tolerate the insult of crores of Dalits and women of the country," Ms Gandhi Vadra said in a tweet tagging a video of her cleaning a premises in the Dalit colony.

She told people in Luv Kush Nagar: "He has not humiliated me by saying so, he has humiliated you all as crores of Dalit brothers and sisters are safai karamcharis and they do this work."

That is the reason, Priyanka said, she decided to personally clean the Valmiki temple to show that there is nothing wrong in doing the work. She also asked the Chief Minister to change his mindset.

The viral video of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra emerged Monday, after she was arrested by UP Police while on her way to meet victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

Reportedly shot at the Sitapur Provincial Armed Constabulary guest house, the video showed her sweeping the room, which was allegedly dirty when she arrived. She was released and permitted to meet the victims Wednesday.