Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained by police en route to Lakhimpur Kheri
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday morning asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi that why the government has kept her in detention for the last 28 hours without any order or FIR. She also said that the one who crushed the farmers was still not arrested, a reference to Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra Teni’s son Ashish Mishra.
She also shared a video that showed a group of protesting farmers being mowed down by an SUV. However, the video does not verify the claims being made by the Opposition that Ashish was behind the wheel. The authenticity of the viral video being shared widely on social media platforms is yet to be verified.
"@narendramodi ji your government has detained me for the past 28 hours without any order or FIR. Why the person who ran over farmers has not been arrested yet?" she said in a tweet in Hindi.
AAP leader Sanjay Singh had also shared a viral video of the incident. Another video that was doing the rounds on the social media platforms show protesting farmers thrashing a person, believed to the driver of Ashish's vehicle, and forcing to make a confession.
Priyanka, the AICC general secretary, was taken into preventive custody on Monday morning in Sitapur along with party lawmaker Deependra Singh Hooda and others while on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri. They were going to visit the families of those who were killed during Sunday’s violence.
Congress media and communication vice chairman Pankaj Srivastava said the party general secretary, who was detained at 4.30 am on Monday, has been in detention for the past 28 hours. "She is not being allowed to meet her lawyers and the administration is not telling her reasons for her detention," he said.
Priyanka in a separate video message on Twitter asked the Prime Minister whether he has seen the viral video of the incident and questioned his Lucknow visit. PM Modi is in Lucknow today to inaugurate 'Azadi@75 - New Urban India: Transforming Urban Landscape' Conference-cum-Expo at the Indira Gandhi Pratishthan in Lucknow.
Meanwhile, Congress has said that it will stage protests at all District Collectors' offices across the country today in support of farmers and to demand action against those responsible for the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Earlier on Monday, 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 claimed that Ashish Misra's vehicle ran over farmers who were protesting against Uttar Pardesh 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.
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