Priyanka-Maya showdown averted as Dalit is promised home

Priyanka, who had made the police register an FIR against five members of Thakur community on Friday last, had announced that the house at Punpur village in Sultanpur district will be rebuilt in her presence through shramdan by party workers and local people.

She had also submitted a memorandum to Governor Vishnu Kant Shastri, demanding an inquiry into the incident. ‘‘I request you to conduct a probe on the issue to ensure justice to the Dalit family,’’ the memorandum read.

Since local MLA Amita Singh, the wife of former union minister Sanjay Singh, had opposed the move to rebuild the house, the administration had decided not to allow Priyanka to go to the village to avoid any untoward situation, official sources said.

Earlier, Mayawati had termed Priyanka’s move to get the FIR lodged ‘‘political drama’’. ‘‘The act was politically motivated to make inroads into the Dalit votebank, while the fact is that some families belonging to Koeri community had forcibly taken possession of a piece of land belonging to one Babban Singh and the local administration had only helped the latter to take possession of the plot,’’ the CM had said in a statement.

‘‘This is for you to judge,’’ quipped Priyanka, when she was reminded of the CM’s statement. She distributed copies, certified by the local administration, to the press in which Rambhajan (the dalit whose house was razed) has been shown as living on the piece of land since 1971. She has attached the same set of papers along with her memorandum sent to the Governor. She said the district administration has promised to allot another piece of land to the affected dalit.

‘‘The incident has added a black chapter to the functioning of the Mayawati government. Priyankaji has exposed how the dalits were being treated under her regime,’’ said Congress Legislature Party leader Pramod Tiwari.