NEW DELHI: The Congress on Monday slammed the Central government after the Supreme Court cancelled the bail granted to Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, and questioned when will Prime Minister Narendra Modi sack his cabinet colleague.
Congress general secretary and chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that finally the Supreme Court cancelled the bail of the minister's son who "trampled" upon the farmers in Lakhimpur.
"When will Modi ji sack Ajay Mishra Teni from his cabinet? When will the BJP stop betraying the farmers and strengthening the killer? For how long will the Modi government continue to oppress the farmers?" Surjewala said in a tweet.
Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said injustice and atrocities of the cruellest degree were meted out to the families of the farmers killed in the Lakhimpur violence.
"The families of the victims of the Lakhimpur farmers' massacre are fighting for justice full of struggles.
Under the protection of power, injustice and atrocities of the cruellest degree were meted out to them," the Congress general secretary said in a tweet in Hindi.
"It is the responsibility of all of us to stand by the victims' families till the end in their fight for justice, no matter how long the struggle is," she said.
The Supreme Court on Monday cancelled the bail granted by the Allahabad High Court to the Union minister's son in the case and asked him to surrender in a week's time.
A special bench of Chief Justice N V Ramana and Justices Surya Kant and Hima Kohli held that the high court took into account irrelevant considerations and gave extra weightage to the contents of the FIR.
On October 3 last year, eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri during violence that erupted when farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya's visit to the area.
Four farmers were mowed down by an SUV, in which Ashish Mishra was seated, according to the UP Police FIR.
Following the incident, the driver and two BJP workers were allegedly lynched by angry farmers.
A journalist also died in the violence that triggered outrage among opposition parties and farmer groups agitating over the Centre's now-repealed agricultural reform laws.