Woman Rahul Gandhi hugged in Una was not related to any victim, has criminal record

Delhi: Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi is once again in the eye of the storm.

A day after he was allegedly caught on camera sleeping in the Lok Sabha, Rahul went to meet family members of Dalits, who were thrashed while skinning a dead cow.

Rahul went to them at the Rajkot civil hospital. 

There he was seen hugging a woman named Ramaben Muchhadiya at the hospital.

Now, it is being said that the woman whom the Congress VP had assumed to be the mother of one of the victims, was not connected to any of the men who had been beaten.

‘As a Dalit mother, I decided to visit them (the victims) in the hospital. I even took two tiffins for the victims. I got passes to enter the ward and was checking on the health of one of the victims when Rahul Gandhi walked in. At that point, I had tears in my eyes after seeing the condition of the victims; then he hugged me” Ben was quoted as saying by NDTV.

Moreover, the 55-year-old woman has a criminal record that includes cases of extortion and rioting.

In Una, Rahul had slammed Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP.

Speaking to media persons, Gandhi had said, "PM Modi talks about Gujarat model, but if anyone here demands education, fights against big corporates, their voice is suppressed. This is a fight between two ideologies. Gandhi ji, Nehru ji, Sardar Patel ji, BR Ambedkarji on a side and RSS, Modi ji on the other." 

"Modi ji talks about Gujarat model, but here whosoever raises his voice against their ideology, whoever asks for education, whoever stands against big corporates, are trampled upon and suppressed," he had further said, as per PTI.

Reacting on the matter, BJP spokesman Raju Dhruv, said, "That's classic Mr Rahul Gandhi for you. He always puts his party in an embarrassing position. So much for showing compassion for Dalit victims."

On the other hand, Congress spokesman Manish Doshi was quoted as saying by the media house as saying, "The pass is given by the hospital administration, the identification of visitors is done by the medical officers on duty. The Congress wasn't connected to the identifying those who were there."

Gujarat has witnessed huge protests after seven Dalit youths were flogged publicly for skinning a dead cow in Mota Samadhilya village of Gir-Somnath district on July 11.

Several youths have reportedly attempted suicide over the assault even as the violence and arson spread to various places in the state.

(With Agency inputs)