The incident at Lakhimpur Kheri has shaken the entire nation. In the incident, BJP leader Ajay Mishra’s son ran over some farmers with his car. The Opposition did not leave any scope of pointing out how degrading the act was. They refused to let the case come to a standstill or for the crime to get covered up.
At around 6:32 am on the 6th of October 2021, news came in from Telangana that Congress took out a protest march in Hyderabad over this incident. The state party chief A Revanth Reddy was of the opinion that the Home Minister of state, Ajay Mishra should be removed from the Cabinet with immediate effect. The party workers demanded the same. At 6:36 am, the UP government denied permission to Congress delegation led by Rahul Gandhi to visit the Lakhimpur Kheri area. This was done in response to Section 144 which was imposed on the state after the incident on Sunday. At 6:44 am, the family of a person who died in the incident raised doubts over the post mortem and requested another one. The state government agreed to ensure impartiality and transparency.
At 7:23 am on the same day, BJP’S UP unit spokesperson Anila Singh issued a statement. She said, “There was an emotionally charged situation in Lakhimpur Kheri. Madam Priyanka Gandhi Vadra can go to any extent for photo optics to gain some political brownie points because they do not work hard on the ground so they keep on finding that if they get any such opportunity then they want to monetize it. All the political opposition leaders want to go to that place to make the situation worse. But Yogi government will not allow that.” The news came in at 7:42 am that Rahul Gandhi will address a press conference at 10 am.
At 8:46, Ajay Mishra said, “My son wasn’t in the car. After the car was attacked, the driver was injured, the car lost balance and ran over a few people present there. I’ve expressed sympathies towards those who lost their lives. There should be an unbiased probe. The entire audio is not being played. I have never said any ill words against the farmers. The party high command has not summoned me. I will reach Delhi by tonight or tomorrow as I have a few works lined up.”
The media said at 8:55 am that Robert Vadra was stopped from reaching Lucknow. He said that he was shocked on hearing the news of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s arrest. He added that it was beyond belief that he could not go to be at his wife’s side during her time of crisis. At 9:26 am, Mishra added that only a portion of his audio from his address to the farmers was circulating in the media. There were some miscreants present among the farmers behind the incident. Some Khalistani elements were present and Bhindranwale posters were put up.
At 10:11 am, the news read that posters demanding Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi to return were put up in Lucknow and some other cities. As the clock struck 10:12 am, the Lucknow Police Commissioner said that if Rahul Gandhi arrives at Lucknow, they will request him not to visit Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur. At 10:14 am, Congress workers protested outside the Sitapur guest house where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained.
When it was 10:16 am, Rahul Gandhi addressed the press conference. He said that the farmers of the country were being attacked by the Central government and the police took no action against the culprits. PM Modi visited Lucknow the day before but did not go to Lakhimpur Kheri even once. Gandhi would try to visit the place with two chief ministers today. Section 144 prevents four people from gathering at a particular place. But they were three people and so no one had the right to stop them from entering.
He added that other party leaders were being allowed to enter but not him. He was the opposition and it was their job to build up pressure. There is no democracy but dictatorship in the country as political leaders were being denied to visit areas they want. He added that the person who committed a crime, the son of a home minister will not be allowed to run a government. The Congresspeople were trained to handle manhandling. So detaining Priyanka or him would not stop them from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri. He further said that he wanted to meet the deceased family members even though not aware of the present situation.
On Twitter, Navjot Singh Sidhu said at 10:35 am that 54 hours had passed but Priyanka was not produced before any court. It was strictly ‘unlawful detention’. At 11:26 am, it was decided that Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal would address a press conference today on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. At 11:31 am, Rahul Gandhi left for Delhi airport en route to Lucknow and at 11:33 am, internet services were snapped in Sitapur. Sambit Patra, in a press conference at 11:46 am, stated that Rahul Gandi was giving out irresponsible statements in front of the media. He also said that Congress was looking at the incident as just an opportunity for publicity and searching for political mileage. He accused the Gandhi family of being thieves and recommended that it was best for them to not speak about other thefts in the country.
At 12:01 pm, Gurvinder Singh was cremated a second time as requested by the family. It was because the family claimed that he had been shot but the post-mortem report had no mention of it. They were supported by farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and Punjabi singer Sonia Maan. In his press conference at 12:05 pm, Arvind Kejriwal said that he could not understand what was happening in Lakhimpur that politicians are not being allowed to visit the area. He claimed that the government was suppressing the voice of the farmers.
