Priyanka Gandhi Vadra of the Congress today blamed the BJP for the deaths of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, claiming that no senior BJP leader, including the Prime Minister, had visited the area. She stated that Prime Minister Narendra Modi could visit Lucknow, but not Lakhimpur Kheri.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, demanding for the resignation of junior home minister Ajay Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra has been arrested in the case on accusations of running over the farmers, said the victims’ relatives “want justice, not money.”
“When I first started working, there was no justice in a case of a massacre in Sonbhadra… In the Unnao and Hathras cases, there was no justice (where a Dalit woman was gangraped and killed)… She remarked during a farmers’ rally in Uttar Pradesh, “The circumstance in this case is similar.”
“The residents of Lakhimpur Kheri also say they do not expect justice.” “Police are asking criminals to speak with us; this has never happened anywhere else in the world,” the farmers said, according to her.
“The people was shocked when Corona arrived. They had not anticipated this government’s refusal to assist in the crisis,” she added.
“India attained independence on the basis of the principle of justice… “However, victims’ relatives in Uttar Pradesh have no chance of justice,” she continued.
Ms Gandhi Varda, the Congress’s Uttar Pradesh leader, was detained on Monday while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri to see the families of four farmers killed by a vehicle allegedly driven by Ashish Mishra. Four more people were killed in the ensuing rioting and arson.
The minister’s son, who has denied any wrongdoing, was arrested yesterday, sparking indignation across the country and doubts about whether the police were treating him unfairly.
The Congress and most opposition parties have called for the minister’s resignation, and he has stated that he was not present at the scene on Sunday. However, after his discussion with Home Minister Amit Shah earlier this week, government sources ruled it out.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who had been held at a Sitapur guest home since her arrest on Monday, was freed to join the Congress delegation, which met with the families of Lovepreet Singh, 19, and Raman Kashyap, 30, a local journalist who died the same day.
“These people don’t want money, they want justice,” Ms Gandhi Vadra said while visiting the family of 19-year-old Lovepreet Singh on Wednesday. It will not be possible unless Ajay Mishra, the Minister of State for Home, resigns. Under his leadership, impartial investigation is impossible.”
(With inputs from NDTV.)
The Chenab Times News Desk