Mid-day election result trends around 12pm showed the BJP in a surprising lead in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri, the constituency which had become the epicentre of farmer anger against farm laws. BJP's Yogesh Verma was leading with 12,733 votes, as against Utkarsh Verma Madhur's 8,438 votes.
On October 3, eight people were left dead in what has been the sourest incident in the recent history of Uttar Pradesh’s sugar bowl—Lakhimpur Kheri. The FIR lodged in the case alleges that Union Minister Ajay Misra’s son Ashish Misra and around 20 unidentified persons fired on farmers and drove three vehicles through a protest padyatra. A judicial inquiry on the violence has been announced by the Uttar Pradesh government, and a peace brokered.
Among those killed was a local television journalist, Raman Kashyap. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath tried to douse the flames of the incident swiftly—most notably by cutting off all opposition access to the district and shutting down the internet in the immediate aftermath. There is also an apparent nod to providing monetary compensation and a job for the bereaved families. However, farmers, as a group, did not let the matter go. Protests were reported from different states.
Lakhimpur Kheri, however, was expected to leave a bitter after-taste for the Yogi government.
Lakhimpur Kheri district is part of the Terai belt—a water-rich, fertile, lowland region. All its eight MLAs are from the BJP. That the incident can scald the party’s prospects in the region was made clear by BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s call for strict action against the perpetrators followed by the sharing of a (as yet unverified) video which shows a car mowing down peaceful farmers.
-Inputs from Puja Awasthi
