E-Paper
Haryana Congress leaders protest Lakhimpur Kheri incident
High drama was witnessed at the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border in Panipat on Thursday after the UP Police stopped the Congress workers from entering the state
High drama was witnessed at the Haryana-Uttar Pradesh border in Panipat on Thursday after the UP Police stopped the Congress workers from entering the state.
Hundreds of Congress workers, led by former Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Haryana Pradesh Congress Committee president Kumari Selja, Haryana Congress in-charge Vivek Bansal and other party leaders, were going towards Uttar Pradesh to protest the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed and four of them were farmers.
The convoy of Congress workers and leaders left from Panipat and travelled around 16km but they were stopped by the police at UP border.
Heavy police deployment and barricades were installed on the Haryana-UP border in Shamli district. Congress workers and leaders on Thursday reached Panipat and took out a protest march from Panipat to UP border.
But the UP Police did not allow them to enter the state. The Congress workers staged a protest and chanted slogans against BJP-led Centre and the Uttar Pradesh government.
In an interaction with the media, Bansal has demanded resignation of Union minister Ajay Mishra and arrest of his son for involvement in the violence.
Selja said they cannot suppress the voice of people and Congress is always with the farmers and aggrieved families.
Addressing the gathering, Hooda slammed the UP government and said the Lakhimpur Kheri incident has shocked the entire country. Police have failed to arrest the son of the BJP leader.
Hooda has compared the Lakhimpur Kheri violence with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre and urged the Congress workers to raise their voice against the incident.
As police did not allow them to enter Uttar Pradesh, Congress leaders returned after a protest at a fuel station.
The barricading also caused long traffic jam on the Haryana-UP border and commuters remained stranded for hours.
