Rahul Gandhi To Visit Families Of Hariom Valmiki In UP, Zubeen Garg In Assam On October 17

New Delhi: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit the family of Hariom Valmiki, who was recently lynched in Rae Bareli, and Zubeen Garg, the popular singer of Assam who died under mysterious circumstances, on October 17 as part of his pro-people and social justice agenda.

According to Congress insiders, Rahul, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Rae Bareli in Uttar Pradesh, will visit late Hariom Valmiki’s residence in neighbouring Fatehpur on October 17 to express solidarity with his family members and send out a strong message to the marginalized groups in the BJP ruled state where Assembly elections are due in 2027.

Hariom, a Dalit, had called out Rahul as he was being thrashed by goons in Rae Bareli in an attempt to save himself. Later, Rahul, who was abroad, had spoken to Hariom's father and deputed senior leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajai Rai, AICC SC/ST department head Rajendra pal Gautam and AICC functionaries Pradeep Narwal and Neelanshu Chaturvedi to reassure the family.

A few days later, Rai was put under house arrest as he wanted to visit Fatehpur and provide some financial help to the deceased’s family. The Uttar Pradesh unit of Congress had dubbed Hariom’s killing as Dalit oppression in the state and had targeted both the saffron party as well as former chief minister Mayawati’s BSP for ignoring the incident.

A few days after the lynching of Hariom, Mayawati, considered to be a prominent leader of the Dalits, had staged a rally in state capital Lucknow to showcase her strength ahead of the 2027 Assembly polls. However, the BSPchief ended up attacking the rivals, Samajwadi Party and Congress instead of the saffron party which rules the state.

“It was not surprising that the BSP chief attacked the SP and the Congress but did not utter a word on Hariom. She is actually a B team of the BJP which is against Dalits. But the voters can not be fooled any longer. A large number of Dalits are upset with the BSP and look up to the Congress,” Congress Lok Sabha MP Tanuj Punia told ETV Bharat.

Senior state Congress leader Vivek Bansal shared similar views. “The BSP is a spent force. There is an opportunity for the Congress to win back its traditional Dalit support base in the state and a sustained effort needs to be made,” Bansal told ETV Bharat.

According to Congress insiders, Rahul will also visit the family of Assam’s well-known singer Zubeen Garg whose recent death was mourned across the north-eastern state.

The controversial death, which is being investigated by a special team, has become a political issue in Assam where rivals Congress and BJP are blaming each other for the incident ahead of the Assembly elections in 2026. The Congress had earlier conducted an event in the memory of the popular singer and even took out candle marches across the state to demand justice for the departed soul.

“Over the last few days, statements made by the BJP regarding the late Zubeen Garg have made it clear that politics has now begun on the issue. There is no decorum left in their statements anymore. Raising questions on the departed soul and showing force through the police shows the government has no other option left," said AICC secretary in-charge of Assam Manoj Chauhan.

He added, "They have forgotten that people are still in deep shock. We expect the government to place all the facts regarding Zubeen Garg's death before the public. People also want to know how the North East Festival continued in Singapore even after Garg's death."

The visits to Uttar Pradesh and Assam will come days after Rahul met the family of late IPS officer Y Pooran Kumar, who recently committed suicide and blamed several top Haryana officials for caste-based discrimination, in Chandigarh.

Rahul had demanded strong action against the guilty officials and noted that justice needed to be delivered not only to the departed IPS officer but to the entire Dalit community. The Haryana Congress has protested the alleged injustice to the officer and plans to take it ahead.

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