‘Immediately sack MoS Ajay Kumar Mishra’: Rahul Gandhi in Lok Sabha on SIT report on Lakhimpur Kheri violence

Lok Sabha witnessed a stormy Wednesday morning when former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi gave an adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha for discussing the SIT report in a case of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh, in which eight people were killed. The Congress leader’s notice submitted to the Lok Sabha secretary general, read: “The UP Police SIT report has highlighted that massacre of farmers at Lakhimpur was a pre-planned conspiracy and not a negligent act. The SIT has recommended for the modification of the charges against all the accused.” He also stated that the Centre must sack Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Mishra, whose son Ashish Mishra has been arrested in the case. “The government should immediately sack the MoS, Home Affairs, Ajay Kumar Mishra, and ensure that justice is delivered to the families of the victims,” Gandhi said in his notice. On Tuesday, the SIT report stated that the Lakhimpur Kheri incident , which took place three months ago, was a “planned conspiracy”. The SIT’s Investigating Officer in the report clearly stated: “The incident was a deliberate act and not of negligence or callousness.” The court later allowed the SIT probing the Lakhimpur Kheri violence to replace lesser charges in the case like causing death by negligence with attempt to murder. According to reports, MoS Ajay Mishra met his son, Ashish, in jail on Tuesday night for 20 minutes and appeared no close to resigning. The violence in Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district on 3 October that set off a political storm ahead of the 2022 Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh and Punjab, among other states, had left a total of eight people, including two BJP workers, dead and two separate FIRs were filed in connection with the incident. It erupted when a group of farmers was protesting against the visit of Uttar Pradesh deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Ajay Mishra’s native place. Other than Ashish Mishra, 12 men have been arrested in the case. The accused, who remain lodged in the district jail, are Luvkush, Sumit Jaiswal, Ashish Pandey, Satyam Tripathi, Shekhar Bharti, Ankit Das, Latif, Sishupal, Nandan Singh, Rinku Rana, Ullas Trivedi, and Dharmendra Banjara. Lok Sabha sees protests Lok Sabha proceedings on Wednesday were disrupted amid vociferous Opposition protests over the findings of the SIT report on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence in Uttar Pradesh. Opposition members also demanded sacking of Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni whose son Ashish Mishra is an accused in the case. As soon as the House met for the day, Opposition members started their protests by shouting slogans and displaying placards . Amid the din, at least four questions as well as supplementaries were taken up. Speaker Om Birla repeatedly told the protesting members to allow the Question Hour to function and keep the good traditions of the House. He also said that disturbing the proceedings was not a good practice. With inputs from PTI