A five-member delegation of the Trinamool Congress (TMC) on Tuesday, 5 October, met the families of farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri when Ashish Mishra, son of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, allegedly mowed down protesting farmers with his car on Sunday, 3 October.
Despite Section 144 imposed in the area and efforts of the Uttar Pradesh police to stop any Opposition leaders from reaching Lakhimpur, the delegation managed to reach the area.
The TMC delegation comprising MPs Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Sushmita Dev, Abir Ranjan Biswas, Pratima Mondal and Dola Sen, spent 14 hours on the road from Delhi to reach Lakhimpur on Monday night, 4 October, while posing as tourists to escape police scrutiny at checkpoints, Hindu reported.
On Tuesday morning, 5 Ocober, Dastidar and Dev went to Palia tehsil of the district to meet the kin of 19-year-old Lavpreet Singh, while others travelled to Dhaurahra tehsil to meet relatives of 60-year-old Nachatar Singh.
Both, Lavpreet Singh and Nachatar Singh were cremated during the day.
Dola Sen was quoted as saying, “Justice is all that the families are demanding. Their mouths can’t be shut down by compensations. They want immediate arrest of MOS Home Ajay Mishra Teni and his son Ashish Mishra, whose culpability in the incident has been proven beyond doubt,” Hindu reported.
BJP Ruling Like an Autocratic Government: TMC
Meanwhile, Lok Sabha MP Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar said, "The accused is the son of a politician but he has killed someone and he must be penalised. India is a democratic country but democracy is missing for the last few years", news agency PTI reported.
Dastidar added, "The BJP is ruling like an autocratic government. They are putting everyone behind the bars except the accused and killing whosoever they want. PM Modi is in Lucknow, why didn't he visit Lakhimpur Kheri?"
The police discovered the delegation when they were leaving Nachattar Singh’s home. Sen claimed that the police misbehaved with them and tried to stop them as they left the village.
She was quoted as saying, “The BJP MPs and MLAs are getting away with brazen murders under the Narendra Modi regime. What can be more shameful and shocking than this? And let us not forget that this is happening when the country is celebrating 75th year of Independence.”
(With inputs from The Hindu and PTI)
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