The Congress said that on Tuesday, it will hold protests at all District Collectors’ offices across the country in support of farmers and to demand accountability for those involved in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, Uttar Pradesh
“The party stands in support of farmers in the entire nation,” party leader Rajeev Shukla said at a press conference here on Monday. “We demand that the Prime Minister and the UP Chief Minister take strict action against those who have committed this crime so that it does not appear that the government is against the farmers.”
The party also demanded that the government release party General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was detained by UP Police on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, and allow the state’s two Chief Ministers – Punjab’s Charanjit Singh Channi and Chhattisgarh’s Bhupesh Baghel – to visit the incident site after the UP administration denied them permission to land in the state capital.
The Tikunia police in Lakhimpur Kheri lodged an FIR against Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra’s son Ashish Mishra and 15 others for murder and inciting violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, even as the death toll reached nine on Monday.
The Samyukta Kisan Morcha claimed that Ashish Misra’s vehicle ran over farmers who were protesting against Uttar Pardesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to a village in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Ajay Misra and his son, however, claimed that protesters attacked the convoy and killed a driver and three others, including two BJP workers.
(With IANS input)