Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) member of parliament Varun Gandhi has sought accountability for the "innocent blood" of farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri district of Uttar Pradesh.
The Pilibhit MP put out the statement on Twitter on October 7, sharing a better-quality video that purportedly shows an SUV, belonging to the family of Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni, mowing down a group of protesting farmers on October 3.
Hours after the tweet, Varun and his mother Maneka Gandhi, also a BJP MP, were dropped from the party's National Executive Committee.
At least eight people, including four farmers, died after being allegedly run over by vehicles driven by BJP workers on their way to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the district on October 3.
Varun's critical stand on the Lakhimpur Kheri deaths hints at a breaking of ranks amid a reported unease in the BJP over the farmers’ protest against the Centre's three agri-laws ahead of the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
READ: Congress sees Lakhimpur Kheri tragedy as opportunity to derive political mileage: BJP
On October 6, he shared a shorter version of the same video, urging Uttar Pradesh police to take notice and make arrests. That video went viral on social media. Varun’s demand for arrests comes a day after he wrote to UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath demanding a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) into the violence.
Varun, cousin of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, is, perhaps, the only BJP MP to be vocally seeking justice for the victims of Lakhimpur Kheri violence. He had earlier come out in support of farmer protest, even as many BJP leaders condemned what they called ‘anti-national’ agitation hijacked by the Opposition while others called it a "protest by Khalistanis".
Also, read: Opposition adopted negative attitude in sensitive Lakhimpur Kheri incident: UP govt
Amid the surging political storm in Uttar Pradesh, the Opposition parties are trying to corner the chief minister and seeking removal of Union minister Ajay Mishra, whose son Ashish has been named in the murder case. Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi, met the families of the deceased farmers on October 6.
No arrests have been made in the case so far even as the Uttar Pradesh government has constituted a one-member commission to probe the violence. Ashish Mishra has not been arrested despite being named in the case. He has denied that he was at the spot.
Speaking out on farmers' issues
Varun has been raising the farmers’ issues with the Yogi Adityanath government continuously. On September 27, he wrote to him, demanding a hike in sugarcane prices.
Last month, Varun described the protesting farmers in Muzzaffarnagar for a mahapanchyat as “our own flesh and blood” while stressing the need to understand their pain and re-engage with them.
But, many with the BJP link Varun’s stand to his exclusion from the Union cabinet in July. His outburst comes months before the crucial Uttar Pradesh elections where the BJP is hoping to return to power.
“Varun, perhaps, expected to make it to the Union cabinet after his mother Maneka Gandhi was dropped. He was also expecting something for him in the recent expansion of Yogi Adityanath cabinet. He, it seems, is feeling ignored,” a BJP leader was quoted in a report in the media.
Also, read: Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal asks why political leaders stopped from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri
Maneka and Varun joined the BJP in 2004. He contested his first election in 2009. In 2013, he was made general secretary in the party. Varun's constituency Pilibhit is adjacent to Lakhimpur Kheri. The region is home to a large number of Sikh farmers.
Not the first time
Varun has been upset with BJP earlier as well. He was reportedly annoyed with his party for being neglected and sidelined before the 2017 state polls.
On October 2, Varun slammed a counter trend being popularised by a section of Twitter praising Nathuram Godse who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi. This was, perhaps, first time that Varun took a stand on an ideological issue.
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