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Lakhimpur violence: Opposition leaders attack govt, meet families of victims
SP leader Akhilesh Yadav, BSP delegation led by Satish Chandra Mishra visit families of farmers killed in the incident; Cong leader Priyanka Gandhi met kin of two farmers in Bahraich
Opposition politicians made a beeline for Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri district on Thursday, visiting the families of some of the people who died in violence three days ago and attacking the government for not arresting the accused.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav told the victims’ kin that if his party forms the government in next year’s assembly elections, it will give ₹2 crore ex gratia each to the families of the four farmers who died.
“People from all political parties are here so that the families get justice. The son of a minister will not be arrested as there is a BJP government both in UP and at the Centre,” said Yadav, assuring the grieving families of support.
Farm groups say a car owned by Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra ‘Teni’ mowed down protesters from behind while they were returning from a demonstration in Tikunia village on Sunday afternoon.
The minister and his son, Ashish Mishra, deny the charge and say farmers pelted the car with stones that led the driver losing control of the vehicle. They also accuse the protesters of lynching two BJP workers and the car’s driver. A local journalist was also killed.
Yadav, who was detained in Lucknow when he attempted to visit the village on Monday, met the families of farmers and the journalist. “To keep people’s faith in the government and in the Constitution, the minister must resign and the accused must be sent to jail,” he told reporters.
A Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) delegation led by party general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra met the victims’ kin and accused the ruling party and police of trying to save the accused, Ashish Mishra, who has been booked for murder.
“The hearing started by the Supreme Court in the Lakhimpur incident gave hope to the people for relief and proper justice, as the attitude of the BJP government in this matter appeared mostly biased,” Mayawati said in a tweet in Hindi.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who spent around 55 hours in detention after being held on Monday while trying to go to Tikunia, met the families of two farmers in Bahraich.
“If the minister of state for home does not resign nor is he sacked, then it means that the government of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is giving a message to the public that if someone is in power, if he is a minister, he can do anything,” she told reporters in Moharnia, where she met the family members of Gurvinder Singh, one of the four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
“Justice will be done in Lakhimpur case. Yogi Adityanath ji has led from the front and defused tension. An inquiry will unravel all aspects of the case, including those who fanned the fire,” said UP minister Suresh Rana
