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Lakhimpur Kheri violence case: Congress delegation to meet President Kovind tomorrow
The seven-member delegation, led by Rahul Gandhi, will meet the President at 11:30am, and submit a ‘memorandum of facts.’
A seven-member Congress delegation, led by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, will meet President Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, after the Rashtrapati Bhavan, on Tuesday, scheduled their appointment with the President in this regard. The development comes two days after the Congress tweeted to announce it had sought appointment with Kovind over the matter, though the tweet was deleted minutes later.
Also Read | Cong seeks appointment with Kovind over Lakhimpur violence, later deletes tweet
The meeting will take place at 11:30am on October 13, Hindustan Times' sister publication Live Hindustan reported citing news agency ANI.
Besides Gandhi, the delegation will comprise his sister and party's general secretary, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and senior leaders KC Venugopal, AK Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Mallikarjun Kharge. The leaders will submit to the President a “memorandum of understanding.”
“The shocking incident of broad daylight massacre of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri has shaken the conscience of the entire nation. A delegation of the Congress party, headed by Shri Rahul Gandhi, seeks an appointment with the honourable President, on priority, to present to him a detailed memorandum of facts,” the opposition party's letter to Kovind, dated October 9, read.
The Congress has staged aggressive protests over the incident, demanding the arrest of prime accused Ashish Mishra, the son of junior home minister Ajay Mishra. Ashish Mishra, who was arrested by the Uttar Pradesh Police on Saturday after skipping an earlier summons, is accused of ramming his jeep into a group of farmers on October 3, killing four. The farmers were returning after demonstrating against UP deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.
In the ensuing melee, two workers of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), a driver of minister Mishra, and a local journalist were killed, taking the toll to eight.
On Monday, Mishra was sent to three-day police custody, which begins today.
