As Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was attending the 135th Foundation Day programmes of the Congress at the party’s Uttar Pradesh headquarters in Lucknow, a party worker broke the security cordon and reached the stage to meet Priyanka.
According to eyewitnesses, while Congress general secretary Gandhi was seated on the dais with Salman Khurshid and other senior party leaders, a party worker Gurmeet Singh reached the stage by breaking her security cordon.
Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and security personnel tried to stop the man, but Priyanka Gandhi Vadra held his hand and stopped him from being pushed down.
She also spoke to Singh, who gave a memorabilia to her.
According to Uttar Pradesh Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh, Gurmeet is a resident of Kanpur and has been associated with the party for a long time.
Congress leaders saw the incident as a security breach of Priyanka Gandhi.
Earlier today in Lucknow Congress General Secretary lashed out at the Narendra Modi-led BJP government, accusing it of “lying” to the citizens of the country on the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA).
In an indirect attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi during the event, Priyanka said that “those who were discussing National Register of Citizens nationwide are now denying that they ever spoke on it”.
Priyanka Gandhi further said that although other opposition parties in Uttar Pradesh are not speaking up against CAA or NRC, the Congress will keep raising its voice.
Earlier in November, in an unprecedented security breach, a car with five passengers including a girl drove into the house of the Congress General Secretary in central Delhi’s Lodhi Estate.
According to media reports, the group walked straight to the garden and requested for a photo to be taken with Priyanka Gandhi.
It is learnt that the family, who claimed to have come all the way from Uttar Pradesh, had not taken an appointment prior to their meeting with the Congress chief’s daughter.
It was alleged that this was one of the worst security breaches as the guards not only let the car drive in but also did not check the identity of the passengers.
The security breach came weeks after the Special Protection Group (SPG) protection given to the Gandhi family, including Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi and her children Rahul and Priyanka was withdrawn by the Centre on November 8.
The Congress leaders are placed under ‘Z plus’ security provided by the Central Reserve Police Force (CRPF).
Following the move, Congress workers had protested outside the residence of Amit Shah, raised slogans against the Union Home Minister and the BJP government on Friday evening.
The Congress party slammed the government for removing SPG cover of the Gandhi family, terming it as a “sinister” and “vindictive” move.