Reacting to the government's attempt to stifle Priyanka's democratic right to meet the families of the victims of the Sonbhadra violence, the Punjab Chief Minister said the state BJP government had stooped to a new low in curbing the fundamental rights of citizens.
He urged the government to revoke its detention orders and allow Priyanka to meet the families of the victims of the Sonbhadra violence.
He also asked the BJP-led government at the Centre to intervene and direct the state to step back from its confrontationist attitude and ensure the protection of the Constitutional right of Priyanka and her supporters.
Priyanka, the Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh (East), was on Friday detained and stopped from going to Sonbhadra, where 10 tribals were shot dead earlier in the week for refusing to vacate their land.
Terming the government's actions as arbitrary and repressive, Singh questioned the rationale behind detaining Priyanka and preventing her from performing her democratic duties.
Citing reports suggesting that the administration had subsequently even cut the power at the guest house where Priyanka was detained, the Punjab Chief Minister said that the Uttar Pradesh government was trying to erode the fundamental Constitutional rights through its authoritarian acts.
No state government can be allowed to suppress the fundamental rights of any individual in the Indian democratic polity, he added.
( With inputs from IANS )