"Sign of his helplessnes, competition with Samajwadi Party," Sudhanshu Trivedi attacks Rahul Gandhi after Sambhal visit row

Earlier today Rahul Gandhi, Wayanad MP Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders were stopped by police at the Ghazipur border and prevented from proceeding to the Sambhal in Uttar Pradesh where last week violence over allegations that a Mughal-era mosque was built over a razed temple claimed the lives of four people.

"The Parliament session is underway, and the people have clearly witnessed the differences within the INDI alliance and their negative approach towards the Constitution. Yesterday, 42 notices under Rule 267 were received in Rajya Sabha and important thing is that the notices received were for nine different topics. It was evident that Congress was taking forward its own agenda and other parties of INDI alliance decided to go their own way. After the failure to take along the alliance parties on the floor of the House. Today, Rahul Gandhi's attempt to visit sensitive areas of UP (Sambhal) is a sign of his helplessness," Trivedi said addressing a press conference in the national capital.

He further said that Rahul Gandhi's attempt to visit Sambhal was just a "formality" to attract media attention.

"This attempt was motivated by the competition between Congress and SP to get back their core vote bank and not because Congress sympathises with the issue. It was just a formality for media attention as he has failed to keep INDI alliance together," he said.

Violence erupted in Sambhal district on November 24 during an Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) examination of a Mughal-era mosque. The clashes resulted in four fatalities and multiple injuries among police personnel and locals.

The ASI survey followed a petition filed in a local court, claiming that the mosque's site was originally a Harihar temple. (ANI)