Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, arrived to meet the families of two farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, said that by allowing Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra to continue on the post, the Centre is sending a message that those in power can do anything.
The Union minister’s son, Ashish Kumar Mishra, and others have been booked in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that erupted during a farmers’ protest.
“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,” Gandhi Vadra told reporters in Moharnia, where she met the family members of Gurvinder Singh, one of the four farmers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
“The message that is coming out of it is that if someone is in power, is a minister or a BJP leader, he can do anything. There is no justice for the common people, the poor, farmers, Dalits and women. I want to tell Narendra Modiji that this is the message that he is giving to people,” she said.
On her meetings with the bereaved families, when the Uttar Pradesh government released her from detention and allowed her to go to Lakhimpur and Bahraich , the Congress general secretary said, “We have met the families of all the deceased farmers. Everyone says they are not bothered about the compensation, they are only concerned about the dismissal of the minister of state for home and the arrest of the criminals.”
She also said the families of the victims have some video clips of Sunday’s incident that show what transpired that day. “The family members have said that they want justice,” she stressed.
WHAT HAPPENED ?
– Eight people, including four farmers, died in the UP district after a car ran over a group of demonstrators protesting against the visit by junior Home Minister Ajay Mishra and UP’s Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
- Ajay Mishra, the FIR said, drove into the gathering of protesting farmers amid a peaceful black flag protest. “The incident took place around 3 pm, when Ashish Mishra with his three vehicles along with 15-20 men with weapons moved towards Banwaripur meeting place… Ashish, sitting on the left side of his Thar Mahindra fired at the crowd. The vehicle mowed into the people… Due to the firing, farmer Sukhvinder Singh’s 22-year-old Son Gurvinder died,” reads the FIR.
– Police pasted a notice outside the Union Minister’s home, summoning his son.
Former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav, Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Rahul Gandhi, among others, have alleged the police are shielding the high-profile accused.
