Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Congress to hold nationwide protest today

The Congress party has given a call for a nationwide protest against the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on Tuesday. The party has asked its workers to hold protests outside District Collectors' offices across the country in support of farmers and to demand action against those responsible for the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.

Senior party leader Rajeev Shukla said that Congress stands in support of farmers in the entire nation. He said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath should take strict action against those who have committed this crime and it should not look like the government is against the farmers.

The party has also demanded that the government should release Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who has been detained by the Police while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, and also allow its two Chief Ministers - Punjab's Charanjit Singh Channi and Chhattisgarh's Bhupesh Baghel - to visit the site of the incident as they have been denied permission to land in Lucknow.

The Tikunia police in Lakhimpur Kheri lodged an FIR against Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra's son Ashish Mishra and 15 others for murder and inciting violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, even as the death toll reached nine on Monday.

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha has claimed that Ashish Misra's vehicle ran over farmers who were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to a village in Lakhimpur Kheri. Ajay Misra and his son, however, claimed that protesters attacked the convoy and killed a driver and three others, including two BJP workers.