Congress claims camera not allowed to accompany Rahul Gandhi during Vishwanath temple visit

Lucknow: The Congress on Saturday alleged that permission for its cameras to accompany Rahul Gandhi during his visit to the Kashi Vishwanath temple was cancelled at the last moment and said this was 'pettiness' on the part of the Varanasi district administration.

In an apparent swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the party alleged that by doing this, the 'district administration once again proved that it is nothing more than an employee of the 'Camerajivi' sitting in Delhi'.

Uttar Pradesh Congress president Ajay Rai alleged that no cameras were allowed with Rahul Gandhi when he went to Kashi Vishwanath temple to offer prayers.

"All BJP leaders, when they come to offer prayers at Kashi Vishwanath temple, are allowed to enter with cameras. No cameras were allowed with Rahul Gandhi and till now no photos have been released by the administration," he told reporters.

Later, in a post in Hindi on X, the Congress said, "Today around 10.30 am Rahul Gandhi ji offered prayers at the Baba Vishwanath temple in Kashi. At the last moment, the permission granted to our camera to enter the temple was cancelled."

"The district administration assured us that photos (of Rahul Gandhi's visit to the temple) would be shared by the temple cameraperson. Despite continuous efforts for three and a half hours, the photo was not provided. Then seven photographs were sent but none of those was of darshan although the photo was taken by the temple cameraperson," it said in the post.

The Congress said that "by doing this, the district administration of Varanasi once again proved that it is nothing more than an employee of the 'Camerajivi' sitting in Delhi."

"This is not politics and sycophancy, this is pettiness. But remember that neither a devotee of Lord Shiva can be stopped from his resolve nor any force can stop him from this great battle for justice. May Baba Vishwanath do good to everyone and give wisdom to the wicked," the Congress said on X.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took a dig at Prime Minister Modi and said, "All this has happened at the behest of the country's chief cameraman sitting in Delhi. This is his 'One Nation, One Photo' policy.'

The Rahul Gandhi-led 'Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra' entered Uttar Pradesh from Bihar on Friday and reached Varanasi on Saturday.