Click to play videoNew Delhi/Lucknow: Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Rita Bahuguna Joshi on Sunday rejected the state government’s order that the Crime Branch will probe the attack on her house and demanded that the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) investigate the manner.
“I demand that the CBI probe what happened at my house in Lucknow. My party also wants this, because what happened is a state-sponsored crime,” said Joshi, whose house in Lucknow was set on fire on Wednesday night by a group of alleged Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) workers for her speech against Chief Minister Mayawati.
“The UP administration definitely had a hand in burning my house and it happened with Mayawati’s consent. I don’t trust just the UP government,” she said. Joshi is out on interim bail after being arrested on Thursday and she has been charged under a law to prevent harassment of Dalits.
Joshi said she was “embarrassed” by her statements but didn’t intend to hurt any individual or caste. "I was embarrassed but my intention was not to demean any individual, forget about a caste," she said. "I am sorry for what I said.”
The Congress leader rejected the UP government’s announcement in Lucknow that the CB-CID (crime branch-criminal investigation department) would investigate the attack on her house.
“I don’t expect justice from the UP government. The CBI should probe," she said.
Joshi, who is in New Delhi to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi, described the charges against her as "disproportionate and illegal", and said that she was "ready to go to jail a 100 times and will continue to fight for the poor, downtrodden and women's rights".
Congress leader Digvijay Singh backed Joshi's demand and blamed Mayawati for the attack on her house.
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