Congress leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi, and three others will be permitted to visit Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died in violence Sunday after a convoy of automobiles mowed down a peaceful farmers’ protest.
However, a new scandal arose minutes after Mr Gandhi’s Delhi-Lucknow flight landed, with UP Police refusing to let the Lok Sabha MP leave in his vehicle. They insisted he go in a police car, claiming his “protection,” and surrounded him when he refused. Mr Gandhi, Ms Gandhi Vadra, and others were barred from going to Lakhimpur Kheri to see the relatives of the four farmers killed by cars.
Read also: Priyanka Gandhi Arrested for Violating Section 144
The Congress and she alleged “illegal imprisonment” by the state administration. Mr Gandhi spoke to a news conference in Delhi earlier today, condemning what he called “a systematic onslaught on farmers” and stating that “India used to be democratic.”
“We’ve been informed we can’t go to Uttar Pradesh since yesterday “he had stated Mr Gandhi stated that the absence of authorization would not stop him. Several hours have passed. Mr Gandhi, according to party insiders. Bhupesh Baghel, the Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, and Charanjit Channi, the Chief Minister of Punjab, were momentarily prevented from boarding their Delhi-Lucknow aircraft.
At about 1.45 p.m., Mr Gandhi’s aircraft arrived at Lucknow airport. Since Monday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been held in “illegal custody” and claims she has yet to receive a formal notification explaining her incarceration. Robert Vadra, her husband, stated that he, too, had been barred from visiting UP to “check on my wife.”
The case against Ms Gandhi Vadra and eleven others, according to UP police, is about preventative detention owing to suspicion of breach of peace; prohibitory orders have been in effect since the incident. Ms Gandhi Vadra, on the other hand, stated that her group was tiny and that eight of the individuals mentioned were not there.
Read also: Priyanka Gandhi remains under detention in Sitapur, UP
The violence occurred during a farmers’ demonstration in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, killing eight people, including four farmers, ahead of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. The other four were passengers in the automobiles; they were part of a caravan of BJP workers who had arrived to greet Mr Maurya and were assaulted after reportedly driving down the farmers protesting.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son is said to have driven one of the automobiles in convoy. Mr Mishra stated that while the automobile belonged to him, he and his son were not present during the confrontations. Police in Uttar Pradesh have filed a murder charge against Ashish Mishra, but he has yet to be apprehended.
