Lakhimpur Kheri: Badal says SAD delegations to meet Shah, Adityanath

Shiromani Akali Dal chief Sukhbir Singh Badal on Wednesday said that a party delegation will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah and request him to ensure that exemplary action is taken against those involved in the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Badal said the SAD has already written to Shah seeking time for the meeting and that he will lead the party delegation.

Talking to reporters here, the SAD president said that a separate party delegation will also meet Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to impress upon him the need to ensure that the perpetrators of the "ghastly" attack on farmers are brought to book.

Eight people were killed in the violence that erupted in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday during a protest by farmers against the visit of Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Four of the eight killed were farmers. They were allegedly mowed down by a vehicle carrying BJP workers. The other four victims included two BJP workers, allegedly lynched by angry protesters.

A delegation of the SAD will meet Union Home Minister Amit Shah to request him to ensure that exemplary action is taken against those involved in the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri, Badal said.

The party has written to the minister seeking time for the meeting, he added.

The Akali leader said that a separate party delegation will also meet UP CM Adityanath.

The Uttar Pradesh government should also move swiftly to ensure justice to the families of the deceased farmers, he said.

"I appeal to the chief minister to rise above party lines. It is an issue of credibility. People are affronted that the accused have not been arrested till now. People want the guilty to be arrested, however high they may be," Badal said.

He said a SAD delegation will visit Lakhimpur Kheri to assess the situation there and meet the victims' families.

"Earlier also a delegation was sent to Uttar Pradesh but it was stopped at the Ghaziabad border," he said.

Asked about the detention of Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Uttar Pradesh and the subsequent visits by the party's top brass to Lakhimpur Kheri, Badal said they went there to free Priyanka Gandhi and that they are "not concerned" about the well-being of the farmers.

He claimed this is part of the Congress' concerted efforts to launch its poll campaign in Uttar Pradesh.

Two FIRs have been registered in connection with Sunday's violence. Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, is among those booked by police.

The Uttar Pradesh government had announced on Monday that a retired high court judge will probe the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and a compensation of Rs 45 lakh each will be given to the families of the deceased farmers. Their kin will also get a government job.

The injured will get Rs 10 lakh.