Opposition members stage a brief walkout on Wednesday after a heated exchange of words over Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi’s visit to violence-hit Sambhal district of Uttar Pradesh.

During Zero Hour, during discussion on issues pertaining to his constituency Kishanganj, Congress member Mohammad Jawed steered the discussion towards Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Sambhal, during which he was stopped enroute.This led to shouting and sloganeering from both sides, and a brief walkout from certain opposition members.

With prohibitory orders in place in Sambhal, Mr. Gandhi was stopped at the Ghazipur border in Ghaziabad on his way to the district, a senior police officer said.

Rahul Gandhi, his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other senior Congress leaders reached the Ghazipur border in the morning where heavy police force was deployed and barricades put up to stop them from proceeding further. The delegation, which included several Congress leaders, was headed to meet the families of the victims of the violence.

Reacting to the police action, the Congress slammed the BJP and questioned what the saffron party-led Uttar Pradesh government was trying to hide. “Leader of Opposition Shri @RahulGandhi and Congress General Secretary and MP Smt. @priyankagandhi ji want to meet the victim families in Sambhal. The UP government is deploying police and administration to stop them. What is the UP government afraid of? What is being hidden?” the party asked.

Congress General Secretary KC Venugopal also expressed his concerns after the Gandhi siblings were stopped by the police at the UP border. In a statement shared on X, he asked, “What is the reason behind the UP Government stopping the Lok Sabha LOP from visiting the families of those who lost their lives in the violence? It is basic humanity to stand by someone who has suffered such grief and loss.”

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav has also questioned the UP government’s move to stop opposition leaders from meeting the victims, reiterating his allegations that the violence was a BJP conspiracy. Earlier, a delegation of the Samajwadi Party and the state unit of the Congress was also stopped from meeting the victims of the Sambhal violence.

At least five people were killed, allegedly in police firing, during the violence in Sambhal that broke out on November 24 when a team from the local administration went to conduct a court-ordered survey of the Mughal-era Shahi Jama Masjid.