NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Monday accused the BJP of protecting criminals saying the farmers killed in Lakhimpur Kheri last year were yet to get justice.
"One year has passed, but the martyr farmers of Lakhimpur Kheri have not received justice. Reason is the same -- BJP, as always, has been protecting criminals," Gandhi said on Twitter.
Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Misra's son Ashish Misra was arrested in the case after four farmers were crushed under the wheels of a convoy of cars, and four others, including two BJP workers, were killed in apparently retaliatory violence.
Gandhi said the farmers' agitation was a big inspiration for the Congress behind the decision to undertake Bharat Jodo Yatra.
"This struggle will not end without ensuring justice to the farmers," he said.
AICC General Secretary Vadra said the Lakhimpur Kheri farmer massacre has exposed the "anti-farmer" face of the BJP government.
"Even after a year, the minister continues in his post due to the protection from power. The trial has been sluggish and the families of the victims are disappointed," Vadra said.
"Despite the agitation of the farmers, neither did they get the law on MSP, nor justice for the martyred farmers," she said.