NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhiv isited the tension-hit Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday evening to meet the families of those killed in Sunday’s violence.
The visit comes three days after eight people were killed in violence during a protest against the farm laws in Lakhimpur on Sunday.
Four of the dead were farmers who were allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers. The four others included two BJP workers, a driver of Union minister of state for home Ajay Kumar Mishra, Raman Kashyap, and a journalist working for a TV channel.
SC to hear Lakhimpur Kheri violence case on Thursday
The Supreme Court on Wednesday took suo motu cognisance of the violence that took place in the Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh.
A bench of Chief Justice Nuthalapati Venkata Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli will hear the matter on October 7.
Rahul, Priyanka meet bereaved families in Lakhimpur Kheri
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra finally managed to meet the families of the farmers who were killed in Sunday’s violence at Tikunia village in Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh.
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders met the family of deceased farmer Lovepreet at the Chaukhada farm in Palia at around 9pm on Wednesday.
They later met the family of journalist Raman Kashyap, who was also killed in violence.
Priyanka had been kept under detention at a guest house in Sitapur for the last three days.
High drama at airport-
High drama prevailed at the Lucknow airport earlier on Wednesday when a delegation led by Rahul Gandhi was not allowed to leave in their own vehicles.
In a video of the incident, Rahul could be seen arguing with UP cops who were insisting that he should be escorted in the police vehicle.
Rahul, however, denied the police escort and staged a brief dharna at the airport premises. He was later allowed to leave in his own car.
The former Congress president was accompanied by Punjab chief minister Charanjit Channi and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra has called for a statewide bandh on October 11 in view of Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh.
After a state Cabinet meeting today, senior Cabinet Minister and Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) state chief Jayant Patil informed the media that on October 11 the Cabinet has decided to hold ‘Maharashtra Bandh’ to mark their protest against the central government over Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Tikait demands sacking of MoS Mishra, warns of nationwide agitation
BKU leader Rakesh Tikait has demanded the resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra and the arrest of all accused in the
Lakhimpur Kheri incident
He warned that a nationwide agitation will be launched if authorities failed to implement within a week the agreement made with the farmers.
Tikait, who is among the prominent leaders of the agitation against the Centre’s agri laws, had brokered the agreement between the authorities and the farmers on October 4,, after which they had ended their protest and the families of the four deceased farmers had agreed to their post-mortem.
After reaching an understanding, Additional Director General of Police (Law and Order) Prashant Kumar, in the presence of Tikait, had informed of the government’s decision to give Rs 45 lakh each to families of the victim farmers and set up a judicial probe under a retired High Court judge.
“Our protest has not ended. We will wait till eight days since the agreement and if the demands are not fulfilled a nationwide agitation would be launched,” Tikait told reporters at a Gurdwara in Lakhimpur city on Wednesday.
MoS home Ajay Mishra resumes office, assures ‘fair probe’
Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni assured “fair investigation” into the murder case registered against himself and his son in connection with Sunday’s incident.
He joined work at his office at the ministry of home affairs situated in North Block in the national capital and also met Union home minister Amit Shah where he is according to sources understood to have briefed him about the Lakhimpuri incident.
Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), an umbrella body of several farmer unions, alleged that Ashish Mishra Teni, son of Ajay Mishra Teni arrived with three vehicles around the time that farmers were dispersing from their protest at the helipad and mowed down farmers.
The association also alleged that towards the end, SKM leader Tajinder Singh Virk was also attacked directly.
The opposition parties have also demanded Ajay Mishra’s resignation in the aftermath of the incident.
Dictatorship’ not democracy in India: Rahul Gandhi
Before leaving for Lakhimpur, Rahul had alleged that “dictatorship” and not democracy prevails in the country with farmers being “systematically attacked” and politicians not allowed to visit Uttar Pradesh to meet families hit by the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri. His remarks came after he was initially denied permission to visit the district while his sister was still in detention in Sitapur.
However, the Uttar Pradesh government later allowed him and Priyanka Gandhi and three others to visit the district.
Sachin Pilot’s convoy stopped on way to UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri in Niyamatpur
Congress leader Sachin Pilot’s convoy, which was en-route to violence-hit Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh, was stopped on Delhi-Lucknow in Niyamatpur on Wednesday.
“We are taking them to a guest house for a conversation and will decide what to do next,” District Magistrate of Moradabad Shailendra Kumar Singh told media persons.
He further said that Pilot arrived with a cavalcade of vehicles including four to six cars.
Meanwhile, more Congress workers from Rajasthan and Uttarakhand are planning to march to the district to express solidarity with the farmers.
Internet services shut in Lakhimpur Kheri, Sitapur
Internet services were shut down in Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur earlier Wednesday ahead of political leaders’ visit.
Though there was no official communication of the shutdown of services, a senior official said that this had been done as a precautionary measure.
“We will thwart all attempts to create tension in the area. The shutdown may be lifted by evening if no untoward incident takes place,” he said.
Section 144 imposed in Lakhimpur
The district magistrate of Lakhimpur Kheri also imposed section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), which prohibits assembly of five or more people at a time, following the Sunday incident.
Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Varda and 11 others for “disturbing the peace” in the state.
(With inputs from agencies)
