Lakhimpur Khiri violence: Sacking of minister & compensation of ₹1 cr are Cong's key demand: Ajay Kumar Lallu

A day after Uttar Pradesh’s Yogi government reached an agreement with the aggrieved families of farmers who were allegedly mowed down by the BJP Minister Ajay Mishra’s son, Congress raised the demand that the minister be sacked from Modi cabinet and compensation amount announced by the Yogi government be increased.

Talking to NH over the phone, Chief of the Uttar Pradesh Congress, Ajay Kumar Lallu said that arrest of the main accused, sacking of the Minister, and raise in compensation amount are key demands put forth by the UP Congress.

Alleging that the accused is being given protection by the state as well as the Central governments, Lallu who is leading Congress’ protest from the front in Sitapur said, “Rs 45 lakh is not enough. Congress’ demand is that those killed by the Minister’s son should be given Rs one crore as compensation.”

After BKU leader Rakesh Tikait led mediation, the Yogi government, , agreed to give Rs 45 lakh as compensation to those who died and Rs 10 lakh to those who got injured besides the judicial probe.

However, on arrest, both Rakesh Tikait and the Yogi government appeared non-committal. Tikait told the media that the Yogi government has promised to arrest Ashish Mishra within seven days.

Questioning the “window” given to the accused, Lallu said that he should have been arrested in less than 24 hours.

“He (Ashish Mishra) was given time to escape by the police,” added Lallu.

Saying that the BJP governments both in Uttar Pradesh and Delhi are run by people who have criminal backgrounds, Lallu emphasized that on one hand, the BJP government is allowing criminals to run away and on the other, arresting opposition leaders so that they cannot meet the victims.

“Why and under which laws, Priyanka Gandhi has been kept under detention?” questioned Lallu.

While most of the leaders belonging to the opposition camp including SP chief Akhilesh Yadav and BSP leader Satish Mishra failed to get out of Lucknow, Priyanka Gandhi reached the city on the night of the incident.

Though, she was taken into custody and has been kept under house arrest since then in a guest house in Sitapur, her being closest to the ground zero and her tireless attack on the BJP government from inside the guesthouse has pushed BJP into backfoot.

Enthused by Priyanka Gandhi’s confrontational politics, Congress workers, leaders reached the guest house in large numbers and staged protests against the BJP government, pressing for the party's key demands.

Meanwhile, Chief Minister Yogi who, according to BJP insiders, is busy patting his own back for defusing the Lakhimpur Khiri crisis in less than 24 hours, is deeply unhappy with the Delhi leadership.

Lakhimpur Khiri incident may widen fault lines within BJP, say observers.

Commenting over the issue, Lallu said, “Our aim is to bring perpetrators to justice, to help farmers getting maximum compensation, get the minister sacked and finally get the anti-farmers laws scrapped.”