Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has alleged that Union minister of state for home Ajay Misra’s son ran over the farmers by his vehicle on the fateful day.
However, the BJP has retorted and tried to prove her wrong by stating that the vehicle was attacked first with rods and sticks resulting in the driver losing control and ramming the “people”.
The eight people who lost their lives in the Sunday incident include four farmers, two BJP workers, one driver and a journalist.
On his part, Misra, who is a Lok Sabha MP from Kheri, has demanded justice for the BJP workers and a driver who were allegedly killed by the farmers and has defended himself as well as his son Ashish Misra Teni.
In a video posted on Twitter on Tuesday, Priyanka, who is under house arrest in PAC guest house in Sitapur near Lakhimpur Kheri since late Sunday night, requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi to see it.
https://t.co/O4AfP2aDQf
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) 1633409201000
She said, “I have learnt that you are visiting Lucknow to celebrate Azadi ka Mahotsav (75 years of Independence) today. I wish to ask you whether you have seen this video?”
Priyanka shows the video to the camera and says, “This video shows the son of a minister in your government crushing farmers under the wheels. Have a look at this video and tell the country the reasons for not dismissing this minister from your government and for not arresting his son.”
The Congress general secretary also mentioned about her detention. “You have kept opposition leaders like me under custody without any order or FIR. But I want to know why this man is free. I request you to visit Lakhimpur Kheri to listen to their pain. It is your duty to secure them.”
She separately posted the video allegedly of the vehicle ramming the crowd of protesters and said, “Your government has kept me in custody for the last 28 hours without any order and FIR. The focus of the UP government is propaganda and public relations to enable itself to remain in power.”
.@narendramodi जी आपकी सरकार ने बग़ैर किसी ऑर्डर और FIR के मुझे पिछले 28 घंटे से हिरासत में रखा है।अन्नदाता को कु… https://t.co/pmChkU9qOW
— Priyanka Gandhi Vadra (@priyankagandhi) 1633402127000
On the other hand, the BJP has sought to put the blame on the protesting farmers for starting the disturbance. It has shared the picture perhaps of the same vehicle which Priyanka showed in her video and showed the broken windshield.
The screenshot of a video clip shared by BJP to show the broken windshield (encircled) of the vehicle which allegedly mowed down protesters in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3.
In a Twitter post in Hindi, Ajay Misra said, “The Lakhimpur Kheri incident, in which our (BJP’s) workers have been killed, is very unfortunate. I demand from the honorable Uttar Pradesh chief minister (Yogi Adityanath) and the state administration to take strict action against the guilty and have the whole incident and conspiracy investigated.”
लखीमपुर खीरी की घटना बहुत दुर्भाग्यपूर्ण है जिसमे हमारे कार्यकर्ताओं की हत्या की गई है मैं माननीय मुख्यमंत्री जी व… https://t.co/3hT2driyyc
— Ajay MishrTeni (@ajaymishrteni) 1633286817000
Sources in the BJP said, “If you notice carefully, the driver’s windshield is broken which means the vehicle was attacked first. (It is) Something that has been repeatedly said by those who witnessed the event. The jeep was possibly attacked leading to the driver losing control and ramming into people.”
Sharing a video clip shown on a TV news channel, the sources said it showed cars being attacked by sticks, rods and perhaps stones. “Rest is a matter of investigation,” they added.