 "A vehicle set ablaze after violence broke out after farmers agitating were allegedly run over by a vehicle in the convoy of a union minister, in Lakhimpur Kheri")
Prime Minister Narendra Modi must sack Union minister Ajay Mishra over the violence here which left eight people dead, Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary demanded on Monday after meeting families of the victims in the village.
Chaudhary also claimed the villagers told him during the meeting that the violence appeared "pre-meditated" and hoped the Uttar Pradesh government led by Yogi Adityanath "does not prosecute farmers".
The violence had broken out on Sunday during an anti-farm laws protest ahead of UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to Banbirpur, the native village of Union Minister of State Home Ajay Mishra.
Mishra's son Ashish and BJP supporters are accused of running over farmers in their SUVs, while the minister claims his son was not present there during the incident.
The RLD president met the family of Gurvendra Singh (18) at their village in the Tikonia area here around 6 pm, after a gruelling 13-hour-long journey from Delhi that forced him to change routes, vehicles and even walk on foot amid heavy police security along the way that was put to prevent politicians from reaching here.
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"I visited the family of Gurvendra Singh. He was just 18 years old. The family is impoverished, his father is a construction worker. I met his two sisters who told me they would serve their parents. It was such a bold thing for them to say," Chaudhary told PTI over the phone.
"I spoke to the other villagers also and was told that the SUVs which ran over the farmers had sticks attached to their front portion and it was done to enhance the impact of the collision. This proves it was a pre-meditated, inhuman and depraved act of crime that we have witnessed in Lakhimpur Kheri," the former Lok Sabha MP alleged.
He urged Modi to sack the Union minister from his Cabinet and ensure strictest action against him, his son and others who are proved guilty.
Chaudhary also hit out at the UP government for preventing political leaders from meeting the families of the violence victims.
"We are beholden to serve the people as public representatives. The UP government's orders are against the rules," he said, even as leaders of the Congress, Aam Aadmi Party, Samajwadi Party and Bahujan Samaj Party made failed bids to reach Lakhmipur on Monday.
The RLD leader, a vocal critic of Adityanath and supporter of farmers demanding the repeal of three contentious central farm laws, said he hoped the UP government "does not start prosecuting farmers" in the wake of Sunday's violence.
Chaudhary said by the time he reached Lakhimpur, a panchayat of villagers was also convened locally to discuss the matter.
"I hope the state government honours the commitment it has towards the people and meets the demands of the villagers and families of the victims of the violence," he added.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
