Eye of the Storm :Rahul Gandhi hugs Dalit woman with criminal background in Una with no relation to the victims

Una July 27:A day after he was allegedly caught on camera sleeping in the Lok Sabha, Rahul went to meet family members of Dalits, who were thrashed while skinning a dead cow. He is supposedly hugged a 55 year old woman,Ramaben Muchhadiya , with criminal background thinking it was the mother of one of the victims.

Rahul went to meet some of the victims and their family members at the Rajkot civil hospital.

The woman is quoted saying,”As a Dalit mother, I decided to visit them (the victims) in the hospital. I even took two tiffins for the victims.”

I got passes to enter the ward and was checking on the health of one of the victims when Rahul Gandhi walked in.

At that point, I had tears in my eyes after seeing the condition of the victims; then he hugged me.”

Moreover, the 55-year-old woman has a criminal record that includes cases of extortion and rioting.

In Una, Rahul had slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

Speaking to mediaRahul  Gandhi had said, “PM Modi talks about Gujarat model, but if anyone here demands education, fights against big corporates, their voice is suppressed.

This is a fight between two ideologies. Gandhi ji, Nehru ji, Sardar Patel ji, BR Ambedkarji on a side and RSS, Modi ji on the other.”

“Modi ji talks about Gujarat model, but here whosoever raises his voice against their ideology, whoever asks for education, whoever stands against big corporates, are trampled upon and suppressed,” he had further said, as per PTI.

Reacting on the matter, BJP spokesman Raju Dhruv, said, “That’s classic Mr Rahul Gandhi for you. He always puts his party in an embarrassing position. So much for showing compassion for Dalit victims.”

On the other hand, Congress spokesman Manish Doshi was quoted as saying by the media house, “The pass is given by the hospital administration, the identification of visitors is done by the medical officers on duty. The Congress wasn’t connected to the identifying those who were there.”

State Congress general secretary Hemang Vasavada has admitted that local party leaders had “planted” Ramaben to make it visually more appealing. The idea was to ‘humanise’ the story so that Anandiben Patel administration, already under the cosh, could be portrayed in an even poorer light before Rahul and the media. The police has now started an inquiry.

It appears that the woman, Ramaben, is a history-sheeter with a “dubious” background and has faced cases of bootlegging, extortion and attempt to murder.

According to a report in The Indian Express, hours before the Congress Vice-President landed in Rajkot, Ramesh Sarvaiya, a victim of the public flogging who had been discharged from Junagadh civil hospital on 18 July, was re-admitted to General Hospital in Rajkot under alleged political pressure so that the Congress scion could meet him.

Doctors at the Rajkot and Una hospitals claim huge political pressure to let the victims stay in hospital even if they are fit to be discharged.

Gujarat has witnessed huge protests after seven Dalit youths were flogged publicly for skinning a dead cow in Mota Samadhilya village of Gir-Somnath district on July 11.

Several youths have reportedly attempted suicide over the assault even as the violence and arson spread to various places in the state.

Chief Minister Anandiben Patel has also met the victims’ family and promised them all possible help.