News Analysis India

Tag: Lakhmipur Kheri

  • ‘Enough of Ganga dubkis’: Mahua Moitra joins Opposition chorus demanding removal of Ajay Mishra

    Express News Service

    NEW DELHI: Joining other Opposition leaders, now TMC MP Mahua Moitra has demanded the resignation of MoS Ajay Mishra after a finding of Special Investigation Team (SIT) into the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident was leaked on Tuesday.  

    Mahua Moitra said the reality has been exposed as the SIT’s finding show that the Lakhimpur Kheri incident was a ‘planned one’.

    Mahua Moitra in her tweet wrote, “Lakhmipur Kheri SIT says incident was pre-planned, not an accident. Says Ashish Mishra should be tried for attempt to murder.”

    The TMC MP said that the main accused, MoS Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish, should be tried for attempt to murder.

    Attacking Prime Minister Narendra Modi in the last para of the same tweet, Moitra said  “Enough of Ganga dubkkis. Get justice back on track, fire Ajay Mishra & see this end”.

    ​ALSO READ | Lakhimpur Kheri violence: Rahul Gandhi demands minister be removed from post and PM apologise

    Ashish Mishra is one the accused in the Lakhimpur-Kheri incident in which four farmers were allegedly mowed down while they were protesting against the three farm laws.

    Sources said that the SIT formed by the Uttar Pradesh government to investigate into the incident, has reportedly stated that the Lakhimpur Kheri incident was a ‘planned conspiracy’ to crush the farmers on protest against the farm laws on October 3. 

    The political parties in opposition after the leaked finding of SIT have stepped up their attacks on the BJP-led Central government and are also demanding the immediate removal of MoS Ajay Mishra.

  • Shiv Sena backs Varun Gandhi over his stand on Lakhimpur Kheri violence

    By PTI

    MUMBAI: Backing BJP MP Varun Gandhi for his support to the farmers’ movement, especially after the Lakhmipur Kheri incident, the Shiv Sena on Monday said all farmer organisations should pass a resolution applauding him for his stand on the issue.

    An editorial in the Sena mouthpiece ‘Saamana’ also asked whether the blood of other MPs had “turned cold” even after seeing the “horrific” incident at Lakhmipur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh where eight people, including four farmers, were killed earlier this month.

    The death of the four cultivators triggered strong reactions from farmer leaders, while opposition parties launched an attack on the BJP-led central and the UP governments.

    “The country cannot afford attempts being made to spread animosity. Varun Gandhi is the grandson of (former prime minister) Indira Gandhi and son of Sanjay Gandhi. After seeing the Lakhmipur horror, his blood boiled and he expressed his opinion,” the editorial said.

    Varun Gandhi showed political courage without thinking of any consequence and condemned the killing of farmers, the Marathi publication noted.

    “Farmers’ leaders should pass a resolution applauding Varun Gandhi,” said the Sena, which parted ways with long-term ally BJP after the Maharashtra Assembly polls in 2019 over the issue of sharing the chief ministerial post.

    The editorial said the ‘Maharashtra bandh’, called by the ruling allies Shiv Sena, NCP and Congress in the state on Monday, is for those who cannot express their feelings openly.

    Varun Gandhi on Sunday warned against attempts to turn the Lakhimapur Kheri incident into a “Hindu vs Sikh battle”, saying it is dangerous to create these fault lines and reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal.

    The Pilibhit MP, who was recently dropped from the BJP national executive, said the struggle for justice in Lakhimpur Kheri is about the “cruel massacre of poor farmers in the face of an arrogant local power elite,” and the issue has no religious connotations.

    “To use the word ‘Khalistani’ liberally to describe the protesting farmers is not only an insult to the generations of these proud sons of the Tarai who have fought and shed blood on our borders, it is also extremely dangerous for our national unity if this provokes the wrong kind of reaction,” he had said.

    Police on Saturday arrested Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, in connection with the October 3 violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.

    Ashish Mishra was named in an FIR following allegations that he was in one of the vehicles that mowed down four farmers during their protest over Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit last Sunday.

    Varun Gandhi has been sympathetic towards the farmers’ cause over their protests against three agricultural laws and often tweeted in their support, a stand which is said to have not gone down well with the BJP leadership.