The Congress on Monday demanded the immediate dismissal of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra and the arrest of his son who has been named in the FIR by Uttar Pradesh Police after the death of eight persons including four farmers in violent clashes in Lakhimpur Kheri.
The party also demanded the immediate release of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who they alleged has been illegally detained by the Uttar Pradesh Police.
The Congress said it would hold protests outside the offices of district magistrates in all districts of the country on Tuesday to protest against incident.
"We demand that union minister Ajay Mishra should be dismissed immediately and his son be arrested forthwith. We also demand the immediate release of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra who has been illegally detained. We also demand action against the policemen who misbehaved with her," Congress leader Rajiv Shukla told reporters.
There should be a probe on how other people died in the violence and farmers should not held responsible, he said.
The Congress leader claimed that Priyanka Gandhi has been detained illegally and she should be released immediately and allowed to go to Lakhimpur Kheri and meet the affected farmers.
Shukla said Priyanka Gandhi wanted to meet the affected families and should have been allowed as we never stopped anyone when our government was in power. It is wrong to stop politicians from visiting the affected families, he said.
"Chief Minister of Punjab Charanjit Singh Channi and Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel should also be allowed to visit the affected families," Shukla said.
Priyanka Gandhi was earlier stopped in Lucknow and then at Sitapur and detained illegally, he alleged, adding that the police did not relent and misbehaved and took her away.
Her husband Robert Vadra also said that Priyanka Gandhi would not return till she met the victims and their families and they get justice.
He said there is no warrant or documentary evidence to stop Priyanka Gandhi Vadra. They will meet the families of the victims and she will not relent, he claimed.
Baghel, who has not been allowed to visit Uttar Pradesh by the state government, said, "This is the real face of BJP that they want to crush the farmers and kill them. The BJP now stands fully exposed as they are anti-farmers."
Shukla said, "We demand from prime minister and chief minister of Uttar Pradesh very strict action against the culprits in Lakhimpur Kheri. A strong message should go that the government is not against the farmers of the country. "
"The farmers are being suppressed, harassed, tortured and are being killed. They are not allowed to speaking and their voice is being suppressed, which is very unfortunate in a democracy," he said.
Those farmers who died should be given compensation by the government of India and a thorough probe be initiated to find out who killed the other four in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, the Congress leader said.
Announcing a country-wide agitation, he said the Congress will also gherao the offices of district magistrates in every district of the country on Tuesday.
"Now the entire Congress is standing in support of farmers," Shukla said.
Eight people were killed on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Four of the dead were people in the cars, apparently a part of a convoy of BJP workers who had come to welcome the UP minister. They were allegedly thrashed to death. The four others were farmers, officials said.
Farmer leaders had claimed that the minister's son Ashsish Mishra was in one of the cars which they alleged knocked down some protesters who were opposing the deputy CM's visit.
However, Ajay Mishra said he and his son were not present at the spot as alleged by some farmer leaders and he has photo and video evidence to prove it.
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