Priyanka Gandhi extends her Lucknow stay

 Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has extended her stay in Lucknow after her fracas with the state police on Saturday.

Priyanka will visit Uttar Pradesh's Rae Bareli on Sunday afternoon where she will meet the family of party leader Sunil Srivastava, who passed away after a prolonged illness on December 27. She will return to Lucknow later in the evening and her programme is reserved.

Before leaving for Rae Bareli, Priyanka held a meeting with party leaders over Saturday's incident and discussed the future strategy of the party.

Senior Congress leaders Jitin Prasada, Acharya Pramod Krishnam, and Zafar Ali Naqvi visited the residence of Mohd Wakeel, who had been killed in the December 19 anti-CAA protests in Lucknow. He died due to a bullet injury.

The party sources said that it was decided that Priyanka would avoid another confrontation with the police and not visit the residence of Mohd Wakeel. A Congress delegation was sent instead.

It may be recalled that Priyanka was physically stopped by the state police from visiting the residence of retired IPS officer S. R. Darapuri, who is in jail for the anti-CAA protests. Priyanka alleged that a woman cop had held her by the neck when she insisted on going to the Darapuri residence.

The Lucknow police vehemently denied the incident and said that the woman cop was merely doing her duty and Priyanka had not informed the police of her destination.

Later in the night, Priyanka managed to visit the Darapuri residence in Indira Nagar and met his family.IANS