LUCKNOW: Politics intensified over the Lakhimpur Kheri’ violence with a number of political leaders, including Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav taken into preventive custody by UP police while moving to the trouble-torn district on Monday.
While Priyanka, who arrived in Lucknow at 8:30 pm on Sunday and tried to proceed to Lakhimpur along with Deependar Hooda in the wee hours on Monday, was detained at Sitapur, SP chief was arrested from in front of his residence in Lucknow.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was stopped and arrested at Sitapur and taken to PAC guest house in the early hours of Monday. Priyanka questioned why the murder-accused son of a Union Minister had not been arrested.
"If you can arrest us, why not the murder-accused minister's son," the Congress leader said while talking to media persons. She called it a "complete collapse of the democratic, legal process" in Uttar Pradesh, where the Yogi Adityanath-led BJP government is in power.
The state Congress leaders including UPCC chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and MLC Deepak Singh staged a protest at Sitapur demanding the release of the Congress general secretary.
Earlier, other Congress leaders including Pramod Tiwari, Salman Khurshid and others were put under house arrest with the deployment of heavy police force at their residences.
Similarly, Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was arrested while sitting on dharna outside his residence in Lucknow when he was denied permission to proceed to Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday.
He called the BJP government worse than the British in muzzling people’s voice in a democracy. “This was not seen and heard even under Hitler’s rule. This BJP government has surpassed it in committing atrocities on farmers,” said the SP chief.
The Samajwadi Party alleged that Akhilesh Yadav was placed under house arrest late on Sunday. However, there was a huge presence of security force outside the residence of Yadav in Lucknow.
As the SP workers agitated over the denial of permission to go Lakhimpur and indulged in arson, setting a police vehicle on fire in Lucknow, the cops waylaid them to police lines and arrested Akhilesh Yadav along with his uncle and Rajya Sabha member Ram Gopal Yadav.
Even Shivpal Yadav, chief of Pragatisheel Samajwadi Party – Lohia was detained while travelling to Lakhimpur Kheri. Aam Admi Party (AAP) MP Sanjay Singh and BSP general Secretary SC Mishra were also put under house arrest to prevent them from going to Lakhimpur.
In the wake of protests, the Lucknow administration clamped Section 144 CrPC on Monday.
Meanwhile, Additional Chief Secretary, home, Awanish Awasthi wrote to Lucknow Airport authorities asking them not to allow Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister Sukhjinder S Randhawa to land at the airport for their scheduled visit to Lakhimpur Kheri on Monday.
Awasthi informed the Lucknow Airport authorities that Section 144 had been imposed in Lakhimpur Kheri and "requested them not to allow the arrival of Baghel and Randhawa".
However, the leaders from Punjab including Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa were stopped in Shahjahanpur by the UP police.
The Uttar Pradesh government has written to the Punjab chief secretary urging the state not to allow anyone to travel to Lakhimpur Kheri.