Rahul Gandhi and Chief Ministers Bhupesh Baghel and Charanjit Singh Channi have left for Lakhimpur Kheri from the Lucknow airport to meet the families of the victims of the violence. The delegation had staged a brief ‘dharna’ on being initially asked to travel in the police vehicle and not their own.
Speaking to reporters at the airport, Baghel and Channi announced Rs 50 lakh compensation from each of their governments to the kin of the farmers and the journalist who were killed in the Sunday incident, reports The Indian Express.
The Uttar Pradesh Police has allowed all political leaders, including AICC General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, to go to Lakhimpur Kheri. However, visitors can proceed only in groups of five, as section 144 of the CrPC is still in place in the district.
In other news, MoS Mishra, arrived at the Ministry of Home Affairs in Delhi just after noon. Mishra met Union Home Minister Amit Shah at his residence and discussed the situation arising out of Sunday’s incident and the possible ways to tackle it for about 40 minutes, sources told The Indian Express.
Farm leaders have given the Uttar Pradesh government a weeks time to arrest Ashish Mishra, the son of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra, who was allegedly driving one of the three cars which ploughed through a group of farmer protesters in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday. Four farmers were killed in the incident, while four others died in subsequent clashes.
