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Stopped at Lucknow airport, Bhupesh Baghel sits on dharna in protest
Taking to Twitter, Baghel, who was on his way to Sitapur to meet detained Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, said, "I am being stopped from going out of Lucknow airport without any orders."
Chhattisgarh chief minister Bhupesh Baghel sat on dharna at the Lucknow airport on Tuesday after being refused to walk out of its premises by the Uttar Pradesh police.
Taking to Twitter, Baghel, who was on his way to Sitapur to meet detained Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi, said, "I am being stopped from going out of Lucknow airport without any orders." told news agency ANI.
Congress workers gathered outside the airport and raised slogans amid heavy deployment of police personnel around the airport premises.
Baghel, who was appointed as a senior poll observer for the upcoming elections in UP, shared another tweet wherein he can be seen telling policemen that he had no intention of visiting Lakhimpur Kheri and there was no reason to stop him from leaving the airport. Gandhi was detained early on Monday on her way to meet families of deceased farmers who were killed during violent clashes at Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM), the umbrella body of several farmer unions, has alleged that Ashish Mishra Teni, son of Union minister of state for home affairs Ajay Mishra Teni, had mowed down several protesting farmers in the district.
On Monday, the UP government had urged the Lucknow airport authorities to stop Baghel and Punjab deputy chief minister Sukhjinder S Randhawa from landing at Lucknow airport, news agency ANI had reported.
Soon after, Baghel asked if a visa was required to enter Uttar Pradesh and the visit of Congress leaders to the violence-hit district should be seen from the prism of politics.
Also Read: What happened in Lakhimpur Kheri: Sequence of events according to both sides
Gandhi, the Congress general secretary, was detained at the 2nd Battalion PAC guesthouse in Sitapur on Monday on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri. Congress workers have started gathering in nearby hotels to protest Gandhi’s “illegal detention”.
"She is not being allowed to meet her lawyers and the administration is not telling her reasons for her detention," Congress media and communication vice chairperson Pankaj Srivastava said.
Besides Gandhi, state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, national secretary Dheeraj Gurjar, Youth Congress national president BV Srinivas and party MLC Deepak Singh are also being held under detention, Srivastava said.
