Standoff between Priyanka, Uttar Pradesh Government ends

Mirzapur/ Lucknow/ New Delhi : The standoff between Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and the Uttar Pradesh government ended on Saturday, a day after the Congress leader was detained when she insisted on going to Sonbhadra where 10 people were gunned down this week.

Gandhi headed back to Delhi after a meeting with some Sonbhadra villagers who travelled to the Mirzapur guesthouse where she had stayed overnight, refusing an offer from local administration to furnish a personal bond and leave.

She said those who had "arrested" her and brought her to the Chunar guesthouse were now saying she is free to leave. "I want to tell them that I have fulfilled my objective. I met the family members.

I am leaving today, but I shall return," she told party workers who thronged the guesthouse.

UP Congress leader Ajay Rai said, "The standoff between Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and the Mirzapur district administration is over as she has met members of the aggrieved families from Sonbhadra." Rai said she met 15 people from the victims' families, including seven women.

Ten people, all Gond tribals, were shot dead on Wednesday when a village headman, Yagya Dutt, and his supporters allegedly opened fire in an attempt to take possession of a piece of land in Ubbha village in Sonbhadra's Ghorawal area.

Twenty-eight others were injured, including nine supporters of the village head. After the meeting with the villagers, Priyanka left for Varanasi, where she offered prayers at the Kashi Vishwanath and Kaal Bhairav temples before heading for Delhi.

The deadlock ended amid a show of solidarity in the Congress for Gandhi, who is the general secretary in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh, with party leaders calling her detention "illegal arrest" and organising protests at several places.

Earlier in Lucknow, a Congress delegation submitted a memorandum to UP Governor Ram Naik, urging him to direct the state government to allow Gandhi to meet the Sonbhadra victims' families.