Congress leader Rahul Gandhi will visit families of the victims of violence that erupted during a farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri, on Wednesday, the party said. His visit comes even as several party leaders, including his sister and AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, were detained on their way to the UP district.
AICC general secretary K.C. Venugopal said in a letter to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that a five-member delegation led by Rahul Gandhi proposes to visit Lakhimpur Kheri on October 6 to express condolences to the bereaved families and to ascertain the facts first hand.
The Congress told the chief minister that the UP government had allowed leaders of other political parties from Uttar Pradesh as well as West Bengal to visit Lakhimpur Kheri, but not their party leaders.
Eight people, including four farmers, had died in the violence during a protest over Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to Lakhimpur Kheri.
Earlier in the day, Rahul shared a video clip purportedly showing an SUV mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur and asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi why no action has been taken against the accused.
The authenticity of the video has not yet been verified.
Rahul said the country's Constitution was in danger. Humanity is also in danger if people do not get disturbed by seeing the video, he said.
"If a Minister's son mows down agitating farmers under his car, then the country's Constitution is in danger. If he not taken into custody even after the appearance of this video, then the country's Constitution is in danger. If a woman leader is kept in custody for 30 hours without an FIR, then the country's constitution is in danger," he said in a Facebook post.
The Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday booked Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and 10 other people under sections related to preventive custody due to apprehension of breach of peace as party leaders questioned her detention beyond 24 hours without an FIR.
