Amid voicing concerns and support for farmers amid the Lakhimpur Kheri unrest, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Varun Gandhi on Thursday, 14 October, shared an old video of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee speaking on the farmers' movement in India in 1980.
In the 40-second clip captioned, "Wise words from a big-hearted leader…" Vajpayee can be heard saying: "I want to warn the government against intimidating the farmers, it must not try to scare them. The farmers are not going to get scared. We don't want to use the farmers' movement for politics, but we support their legitimate demands. If the government tries to intimidate them, misuse the law, and try to suppress a peaceful movement, we will not hesitate before joining the movement."
The jibe by Gandhi comes just days after he was dropped from the party's National Executive after he intensified support for the farmers following the Lakimpur Kheri incident in Uttar Pradesh, in which four farmers were killed after being run over by a car belonging to a Union minister's son.
Maneka Gandhi, Varun's mother and a former Union minister was also dropped from the National Executive.
Varun Gandhi's Stance on Lakhimpur Kheri Incident
Ashish Mishra, the son of MoS Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, is accused of murdering four farmers after a car that belonged to him ran over protesters on 3 October.
Varun Gandhi, on 7 October, had tweeted the video of the incident in which the car could clearly be seen running over the farmers.
"The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer," Varun Gandhi had tweeted on 7 October.
A few days later, Varun Gandhi tweeted to slam the communal narratives being spread regarding the incident.
"An attempt to turn #LakhimpurKheri into a Hindu vs Sikh battle is being made. Not only is this an immoral and false narrative, it is dangerous to create these fault-lines and reopen wounds that have taken a generation to heal. We must not put petty political gains above national unity," he tweeted on Sunday, 10 October.
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