Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visit Lakhimpur Kheri today.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra will visit Lakhimpur Kheri today amid reports of violence there during a farmers’ protest in which several people have been injured.
She will visit Lakhimpur today (October 4), UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh said.
Eight people were killed as violence erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri during a farmers' protest over Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit, according to an official.
Two SUVs were set on fire by angry farmers, reports said, after they hit a group of protesters. Four of the dead were travelling in the vehicles, an UP government official in Lucknow said. Lakhimpur Kheri District Magistrate (DM) Arvind Kumar Chaurasia said four farmers and four others were killed.
Meanwhile, the incident drew a sharp reaction from the opposition parties and farmer bodies.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, who has been appointed as AICC senior observer for the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, will also visit Lakhimpur today.
"The brutal treatment meted out to farmers in Uttar Pradesh is unforgivable. I am a farmer. I understand the pain of the farmer. I will go to Lakhimpur tomorrow morning to stand by them in these difficult circumstances," he tweeted.
In a Hindi tweet, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav sought Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath’s resignation.
"Had a talk with Tejinder Singh Virk ji, a farmer leader who was seriously injured in the incident," said Akhilesh, blaming BJP workers for the incident.
"In view of his critical condition, the government should immediately provide him with the best treatment. There is only one demand, the chief minister should resign," he said.
In an another tweet, he said the "trampling of farmers by the son of the Union Minister of State for Home" is an inhuman and cruel act.
"UP will not tolerate the oppression of the BJP. If this situation continues, the BJP people will not be able to move in a vehicle, nor will they be able to de-board it," he said.
Akhilesh Yadav is likely to visit Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday.
Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi will also reach at Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday morning.
Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary in a Hindi tweet alleged that the cavalcade of the Union minister ran over the protesting farmers.
When the heinous act of suppressing the protest is "hatched" by the minister, who could be safe, he said.
The farmers had assembled there to oppose Maurya's visit to Banbirpur, the native village of Union Minister of State for Home and MP Ajay Kumar Mishra.
Maurya's visit to Banbirpur village was cancelled in view of the violence. The violence broke out after two SUVs allegedly ran over a group of anti-farm law protesters, who were demonstrating at the Tikonia-Banbirpur road.
Farmers alleged that the Union minister’s son was in one of the vehicles, a charge denied by Mishra.
(With PTI inputs)
