Rahul Gandhi-led Congress delegation to visit Lakhimpur Kheri tomorrow
New Delhi [India], October 5 (ANI): A 5-member delegation of the Congress Party led by Rahul Gandhi is likely to visit Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on Wednesday to meet the members of families of victims, sources said.
According to sources, the Congress party today has got permission to visit Lakhimpur Kheri as the leaders from Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) were allowed to visit the district on Tuesday.
Further, the Congress party asked the Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to make necessary arrangements for the party delegation who will be visiting the place tomorrow.
Soon after the violent incident at Lakhimpur Kheri, political leaders made a beeline to visit the site and expressed their desire to meet the families of the victims.
TMC leader Sushmita Dev after meeting the families of the victims today expressed her condolences to the victims' families and said in a tweet, "Heartbreaking to meet the family of the young farmer who was crushed to death in Lakhimpur Kheri."
Concerned over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and the illegal detention of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Rahul Gandhi met Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut and discussed if a delegation of Opposition parties can visit Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.
Uttar Pradesh Police on Tuesday registered an FIR against Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Varda and 11 others for "disturbing the peace" in the state. Earlier in the day, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had claimed that she has been detained for the last 40 hours without any order or FIR.
Following TMC leader's visit to Lakhimpur today, Congress leader Deepender Singh Hooda said they were being kept in custody to prevent them from meeting the families of victims while leaders of some other parties like Trinamool Congress and RLD had been allowed to visit Lakhimpur. Trinamool Congress MPs Dr Kakoli Ghosh Dastidar, Dola Sen, Pratima Mondal, Abir Ranjan Biswas and Sushmita Dev met with the families of the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence in which eight people died.
"TMC and RLD leaders were allowed to visit Lakhimpur, we (Congress) also have the same rights. We demand that a sitting judge should investigate the matter, the MoS Home should resign and more financial assistance should be provided to the kin of all victims," Hooda said.
"We (including Priyanka Gandhi) are in custody in Sitapur police lines for about the last 40 hours. No one is allowed to meet us. If we are in police custody, we should have been produced before a magistrate within 24 hours, which has not happened," he added.
An FIR was registered against 11 people including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Deependra Hooda and Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu "for disturbing the peace", Hargaon Police station SHO Brijesh Tripathi had told the media earlier today.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has spoken to some members of families of victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence over the phone while being in detention of Uttar Pradesh police.
"Priyanka Gandhi has today spoken to some family members of the victims over the phone. We have the permission of using phones. Physically we are not allowed to go but on-call we have sympathised with them," Hooda told.
Hooda also said that he and other party leaders on a visit to violence-hit Lakhimpur Kheri got to know through media that an FIR has been filed against them and police was not sharing anything with them.
Eight people including four farmers had died in the violence in the Lakhimpur Kheri district in Uttar Pradesh on Sunday. (ANI)
