The state government has denied Congress leader Rahul Gandhi permission to visit Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh today, as part of its efforts to prevent many opposition leaders, including his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, from making a beeline for the district where eight people were killed in Sunday’s violence.
The Congress announced in a letter to Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that a five-member delegation led by Rahul Gandhi would visit the district. The imprisonment of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was likewise described as “without any basis or justification.”
According to news agency ANI, the state government denied permission for the visit shortly after, citing regulations prohibiting big gatherings.
Ms Gandhi Vadra, a Congress general secretary, claimed on Tuesday that she was being held illegally at a police facility in Sitapur and that she had received no notice or FIR despite her 38-hour incarceration and that she had been denied access to her legal counsel.
She added in a statement that she has not been brought before a magistrate or any other court officer, nor has she been allowed to speak with her legal counsel, who has been stationed at the compound’s gate since the morning.
“At this point, I will not go into the details of the entirely illegal physical force used on my colleagues and me at the moment of my arrest because the purpose of this statement is to clarify the continued illegality of my imprisonment at the PAC facility in Sitapur, Uttar Pradesh,” she stated.
“No order or notice has been served to me. They haven’t even shown me a FIR. I’ve never been brought before a magistrate or any other court officer. I’ve also been denied access to my legal counsel, who has been waiting for me at the gate since the morning “In addition, the Congress leader stated.
Ms Gandhi Vadra has been detained since Monday morning, when she attempted to visit with the families of the Lakhimpur riots victims.
She claimed she saw a piece of a paper on social media in which the authorities mentioned 11 people, eight of whom she claims were not even present at the time she was arrested.
They’ve even identified the two people who “carried my garments from Lucknow on the afternoon of October 4,” she claims.
Violence occurred during a farmers’ demonstration in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, killing eight persons, including farmers and BJP members, ahead of a visit by UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Four individuals were killed in the cars, which were purportedly part of a convoy of BJP workers who had arrived to greet the UP minister and were attacked after allegedly driving over protesting farmers.
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The Chenab Times News Desk