Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra met the families of Sonbhadra firing victims on Saturday after she continued her sit-in protest along with party workers in Uttar Pradesh’s Chunar fort. On Friday, Priyanka Gandhi was detained by police in Narayanpur, while she was on her way to Sonbhadra’s Umbha village to meet the families of victims who were killed in a firing incident in a land dispute case,.

Several Congress leaders, Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel, and a four-member parliamentary delegation of Trinamool Congress (TMC) led by Derek O’Brien are expected to join Priyanka Gandhi today.

Catch up with the major highlights here:

3:20 pm IST Priyanka Gandhi to visit Kashi temple Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will be in Varanasi to offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple and Kaal Bhairav temple later today, reported news agency ANI.





3:05 pm IST ‘Respect you more,’ tweets Robert Vadra “I have always respected your qualities of compassion,empathy & sincerity. Today, Priyanka,I respect u more for standing up against atrocities on villagers. U were there to console them,when govt refused to listen to wails of the families.Priyanka,do what is right for the nation,” Robert Vadra tweeted as Priyanka Gandhi met the families of Sonbhadra firing victims.





2:45 pm IST Priyanka Gandhi tweets video Finally met the families of the Ubbha massacre. What they have been through is unimaginably brutal and unjust. Every single Indian should stand with them in the name of humanity. pic.twitter.com/232oJITUjj — Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) July 20, 2019





2:22 pm IST Priyanka Gandhi leaves for Varanasi airport After meeting the families of Sonbhadra firing victims, Priyanka Gandhi has left for Varanasi airport.





2:18 pm IST 29 arrests far: Sonbhadra DM “The situation in the village is sensitive so we have imposed Section 144 in the district. This prevents the entry of political parties as well as social organisations. I would like to request everyone to cooperate to maintain peace in the area,” Ankit Aggarwal, DM Sonbhadra was quoted as saying by news agency ANI. “As soon as the situation becomes normal we will remove Section 144. 29 arrests have been made in connection with the incident. Forces have been deployed to maintain peace in the village,” he added.





2:08 pm IST ‘I’ll be back’: Priyanka Gandhi “Those officials who tried to stop me from meeting the families (of Sonbhadra firing victims) are now saying that I was not arrested and that I’m free to go. I want to tell them that I’ve met the families, and for now I’m going but I’ll be back” said Priyanka Gandhi while addressing the media after meeting the kin of victims.





2:00 pm IST ‘Not arrested, free to go’: Mirzapur DM on Priyanka Gandhi While Priyanka Gandhi clarified that she won’t be giving any bond for bail, Mirzapur DM said that she was not arrested and that she is free to go anywhere she wishes to, except Mirzapur.





1:50 pm IST Priyanka Gandhi doing ‘politics over dead’: Swatantra Dev Singh Newly appointed OBC chief Swatantra Dev Singh held his first press conference devoted solely on the Sonbhadra issue. Swatantra Dev accused Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of doing “politics over dead”, expressing satisfaction at the manner in which administration reacted, arresting all the accused before abruptly ending the interaction. “The Sonbhadra issue is a legacy of the Congress misrule in the past,” Swatantra Dev said.





1:25 pm IST Congress to pay Rs 10 lakh compensation to kin of Sonbharda firing victims The Congress party will pay Rs 10 lakh as compensation to next of kin of Sonbharda firing victims,” said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as she met with the families of the firing victims.





1:22 pm IST Thorough, fair probe should be carried out: Priyanka Gandhi “The government should provide compensation of Rs 25 lakh each to next of kin of Sonbhadra victims. Tribal should get right to land that they have cultivated for decades and cases filed against tribals should be withdrawn. Thorough and fair probe should be carried in the Sonbhadra firing incident and tribals should get justice,” said Priyanka Gandhi at the Chunar fort.





1:17 pm IST Will request administration to allow us to go to Sonbhadra: Derek O’Brien “We will raise this issue in the Parliament. Our dharna will continue, but for now we are going to visit the injured in the hospital. We will request the administration to allow us to go to Sonbhadra,” TMC leader Derek O’Brien was quoted as saying by news agency ANI.





1:09 pm IST Detained Congress leaders given go ahead Rajeev Shukla, who was among the Congress leaders detained at the Varanasi airport, said that they have now been allowed to go to Chunar, reported news agency ANI.





1:00 pm IST We can’t keep mum: Randeep Surjewala “Humanity has been killed. We can’t keep mum,” tweeted Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala in Hindi. “We will vociferously keep raising our voices against injustice,” he added. मानवता को मौत के घाट उतार दिया गया,

हम मौन साधे नहीं बैठे रह सकते



मुखरता से हम अन्याय के ख़िलाफ़ आवाज़ उठाते रहेंगे।



Our Statement: pic.twitter.com/zJf7oSQ322 — Randeep Singh Surjewala (@rssurjewala) July 20, 2019





12:31 pm IST Congress leaders stopped at Varanasi airport Congress leaders Deepender Singh Hooda, Mukul Wasnik, Raj Babbar, Ratanjit Pratap Narain Singh, Jitin Prasada and Rajeev Shukla were on their way to Sonbhadra to meet the families of victims of the firing incident. They were stopped at the Varanasi airport by the police, reported news agency ANI.





12:21 pm IST UP govt has implemented undeclared emergency: Congress “This (Uttar Pradesh) govt doesn’t want that someone should wipe off victims’ tears. Whatever has happened is unconstitutional and undemocratic and it seems as if Uttar Pradesh govt has implemented undeclared emergency to hide its sins and short comings,” said Congress’s Pramod Tiwari after meeting Governor Ram Naik as reported by news agency ANI .





12:18 pm IST Congress delegation meets UP governor Congress delegation led by Pramod Tiwari met Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik over Sonbhadra firing incident that claimed lives of 10 people.





12:10 pm IST On meeting Priyanka, families of victims get emotional After meeting Priyanka Gandhi, who had been detained while on her way to Umbha village yesterday, the relatives of Sonbhadra firing victims got emotional as they shared their grief with her. They later moved to a room in the Chunar fort where Priyanka Gandhi is having a detailed conversation with them.





11:55 am IST TMC delegation detained at Varanasi airport TMC delegation headed by Derek O’Brien that was going to join Priyanka Gandhi at the Chunar fort, were stopped at the Varansi airport earlier today. Derek O’Brien released a video on Twitter saying, “we just landed at Varanasi airport, with my colleagues Sunil Mondal and Abir Ranjan Biswas. Now the ADM and SP are here. They have told us that we have been detained... It cannot be under Section 144 as we are only three people here.” “We wish to proceed to BHU Trauma Centre to meet the injured and then we wish to go to the spot in Sonebhadra. They are saying we have been detained, but under which section?” he said.





11:44 am IST Priyanka Gandhi meets Sonbhadra victims’ families Priyanka Gandhi met with Sonbhadra victim’s families on Saturday after having protested for almost a day. “I waited the entire day yesterday to meet Priyanka Gandhi. When I came to know that she had been waiting for us at the Chunar fort since yesterday, I travelled all the way from my village (Umbha) to meet her. I’m glad that she waited for us,” said Sukhwati, family member of one of the victims of the Sonbhadra firing incident.





11:40 am IST Priyanka meets 2 relatives of Sonbhadra victims, 15 others still outside While addressing the media Priyanka Gandhi said that two relatives of the Sonbhadra firing victims have come to meet her, while 15 others are still waiting outside and are not being let inside to meet me and neither am I being allowed to meet them. “God knows why what is their (administration’s) mentality”, she said as she requested the media to create some pressure on the administration so that they let the families meet her.





11:25 am IST Umbha villagers arrive at Chunar fort People from Umbha village have arrive at the Chunar fort where Priyanka Gandhi is holding a sit-in protest as she was stopped and detained while she was on her way to meet the Sonbhadra firing victims’ kin. “I had come to visit them, and now they are here to see me, but they are not being allowed to meet me, I do not understand why the administration is not letting them meet me,” said Priyanka Gandhi.





11:20 am IST No BJP representatives have visited Umbha village yet: Priyanka Gandhi Priyanka Gandhi asked as to why no representative of the ruling Uttar Pradesh government have not yet visited Sonbhadra’s Umbha village to meet the families of the firing victims. “Not even a single BJP BLA, MP or chief minister Yogi Adityanath has visited the families of the victims to know about their condition. I am here to express my solidarity with the people of Umbha village. The Congress will do whatever it takes to stand with the affected people,” she said.





11:15 am IST Yogi govt silencing kin of Sonbhadra violence victims: Priyanka Gandhi “The Yogi Govt is silencing the voice of members of Sonbhadra victims’ families,” said Priyanka Gandhi Vadra as she continued her protest and addressed the media on Saturday.





10:58 am IST ‘Yogi govt hiding failure’: Priyanka Gandhi “Sonbhadra firing incident that killed 10 has exposed the failure of the Uttar Pradesh government. I will not go back without meeting the families of those killed in the firing,” Priyanka Gandhi said while addressing party workers at the Chunar fort where she was taken after being detained yesterday.

“The government is protecting ‘bhu mafias’ (land sharks) and oppressing the poor,” she added.





10:51 am IST I can go to the village alone: Priyanka Gandhi [While addressing the media on Saturday, Priyanka Gandhi said that she can meet the members of victims’ families elsewhere and the administration should make arrangements for the same. “I can go to the village alone,” she added.





10:46 am IST Priyanka Gandhi continues protest Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra along with party workers continued her dharna after she was stopped from heading to UP’s Umbha village to meet the families of 10 killed in Sonbhadra violence and was detained by police in Narayanpur. She camped overnight in a guest house in UP’s Mirzapur.



