New Delhi: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) supremo Sharad Pawar warned BJP that it will have to pay a heavy price for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident. Sharad Pawar asserted Tuesday that the entire opposition is with the farmers.
Pawar described the violence as an ‘attack on farmers’. The former Union Agriculture Minister said its responsibility lies with the BJP governments at the Centre and in Uttar Pradesh. He asserted that the ‘people will show them their place’.
“Whether it is government at the Centre or in Uttar Pradesh, they (BJP) are not sensitive at all. The kind of situation that was created in Jallianwala Bagh, we are witnessing a similar situation in Uttar Pradesh. Today or tomorrow, they will have to pay a heavy price for it,” Pawar told reporters here.
Expressing anguish over the deaths, Pawar assured the farmers that the entire opposition is with them. He said his party will soon take a call on the future course of action. Pawar also demanded a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.
“I just want to tell them that the BJP will not succeed in suppressing the farmers’ voice. Farmers from the entire country are united and will fight against this misuse of power by those sitting in government,” asserted the NCP leader.
Pawar accused the BJP governments of being ‘insensitive’. He said they are ‘not even ready to express grief over the death of farmers’. He also lashed out at the UP government for preventing opposition leaders, including MPs and chief ministers, from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri.
“It is like murdering their fundamental rights in a democracy. This can be done for a day or two but in the long term, they wouldn’t succeed. People will show them their place,” Pawar stated.
Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut also called Tuesday for joint action by political parties against this ‘oppression’.
Also read: Farmers call of protest at Lakhimpur Kheri after UP government announces hefty compensation
The Shiv Sena and the Congress, along with NCP, jointly run the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government in Maharashtra. This happened after the Sena quit the BJP-led NDA alliance in 2019.
“Lakhimpur Kheri violence has shaken the nation, Priyanka Gandhi has been arrested by the UP government. Opposition leaders are being restricted from meeting farmers. There is a need for joint opposition action against oppression by the Government in UP,” Raut tweeted.
Eight people were killed Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers’ protest claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers. Four of the dead were farmers, allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers. The others were BJP workers and a driver who were allegedly pulled out of the vehicles and lynched by the protesters.
The UP Police has lodged a case against Union Minister Ajay Mishra’s son but no arrest has been made so far.
