Posters accusing Gandhis of ‘fake sympathy’ surface in Lucknow

UP minister and government spokesman Sidharth Nath Singh too reminded the Congress of 1984 Sikh riots and emergency and asked why Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were adamant on visiting Lakhimpur Kheri in violation of prohibitory orders

Posters condemning Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who have been spearheading the party’s offensive, seeking dismissal of Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra ‘Taini’ and arrest of his son Ashish Mishra in connection with Lakhimpur Kheri violence, came up in Lucknow on Wednesday.

The anti-Gandhi posters also raised the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took place in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi (HT Photo)

The posters that read ‘nahi chahiye farzi sahanubhooti’ meaning we don’t want fake sympathy’ came up even as the Congress scaled up the protests with Rahul Gandhi, along with Congress chief ministers of Punjab Charanjit Channi and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel’s scheduled arrival in the state capital on Wednesday. Priyanka Gandhi has been arrested and kept in a guesthouse in Sitapur following her refusal to leave till she is allowed to meet the families of farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri violence. On Tuesday Baghel was forced to return from Lucknow airport after staging a sit-in there following denial of permission to meet Priyanka Gandhi at Sitapur.

The anti-Gandhi posters also raised the issue of 1984 anti-Sikh riots that took place in the aftermath of the assassination of the then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi by her Sikh security guard, saying that those who are trying to show sympathy to Sikh farmer families in Lakhimpur have their hands soiled in blood.

Later in the day, UP minister and government spokesman Sidharth Nath Singh too reminded the Congress of 1984 Sikh riots and emergency and asked why Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi were adamant on visiting Lakhimpur in violation of prohibitory orders.

“Rahul Gandhi must have been very young when in independent India’s history, mass killings of Sikhs took place with a Congress government at the helm. The same government sat through emergency. So, all this fake talk of showing solidarity with Sikh farmers won’t cut much ice,” the UP minister said.

“Anyone is free to meet the families of those who have lost their near and dear ones in Lakhimpur Kheri. But currently investigation is underway. They should wait for a few days and then go and meet,” he added.

Commenting on a picture of Priyanka Gandhi sweeping the floor of her guest house room where she has been kept in Sitapur, the UP minister said it was good to see her join Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Swachhta campaign.