“I strongly condemn the detention of AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi ji and other leaders by the Uttar Pradesh Police. She is a prominent opposition leader and was on her way to meet the families of farmers who were killed yesterday in Lakhimpur Kheri district… The unlawful detention of opposition leaders is against democratic values,” Gehlot said in a tweet. Priyanka Gandhi’s convoy was briefly stopped by Uttar Pradesh Police in Lucknow where she reached Sunday night, a few hours after violence during the anti-farm laws protest. “Priyanka ji was going to stand with the families who lost their loved ones in yesterday’s violence. It is totally unfair to stop them for discharging duty,” Gehlot said. An FIR has been registered against Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish Mishra and several others persons in connection with the violence. Farmer leaders claimed that Ashish Mishra was in one of the cars that allegedly knocked down some protesters opposing Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit. The eight people killed included four farmers and four people in the convoy of BJP workers who had come to welcome the UP minister. They were allegedly thrashed to death. The Rajasthan chief minister said farmers protesting peacefully were killed by BJP leader’s convoy and then opposition leaders were stopped from meeting the families of the victims. This, he said, is absolutely wrong. Gehlot added that the BJP government’s inhuman face has come to the fore. It is undemocratic to ignore the demands of the farmers, stalling the farmers movement, oppressing them and then not allowing any opposition party to stand with them, he said.
Source: Economic Times
