Lucknow/Lakhimpur Kheri (UP): Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat on a hunger strike Monday. It happened after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained in Uttar Pradesh’s Sitapur while she was en route to Lakhimpur Kheri, her party said. Priyanka and other Congress leaders accompanying her, including Deepender Hooda, had reached the Lakhimpur border Monday morning. However, they were not allowed to meet the families of the farmers who died in the violence during a protest a day earlier, the party alleged.
“Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has been arrested. She is on hunger strike. Congressmen are protesting. Government will have to bow to our demands. Voice for justice will be raised with more strength,” the UP Congress said in a tweet. In a video released by the party, Priyanka was seen sweeping the floor of a room where she was apparently kept.
See videos:
https://twitter.com/i/status/1444744300000993284
https://twitter.com/i/status/1444937913267982339
Stopping them in such a way is ‘undemocratic’, Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu told this agency.
Eight people were killed Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers’ protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
On their way to the violence-hit district, Congress leaders had to take alternative routes to reach the bordering Hargaon area in Sitapur as heavy security was deployed on the main roads.
“We are waiting outside Lakhimpur Kheri. We have been prevented by the police from entering. We have come here to meet the victims of the violence,” Congress national secretary Dheeraj Gurjar said over the phone at 4.30am.
Priyanka’s convoy was earlier briefly stopped by Uttar Pradesh Police officials in Lucknow, where the Congress general secretary had arrived Sunday night.
Mobile internet services have been suspended in parts of Lakhimpur district, where restrictions under CrPC section 144 — which prohibits assembly of four or more people — has also been imposed, according to officials.
The UP Police took to Twitter early Monday to describe the incident as ‘unfortunate’ and said eight casualties have been reported so far as per the district administration.
