Congress delegation to meet President Kovind on October 13, demand strict action in Lakhimpur incident

A Congress delegation led by former party chief Rahul Gandhi will meet Ram Nath Kovind on Wednesday to demand stringent action in Lakhimpur Kheri case and press for the sacking of Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra.

The seven-member delegation, which include Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, senior party leaders AK Antony and Ghulam Nabi Azad, Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Congress General Secretaries Priyanka Gandhi and KC Venugopal, will meet the president at 11:30 AM.

A memorandum will be submitted to the President explaining the events and the actions taken by the authorities and the gaps in it. The leaders will also impress upon the President to sack Mishra, whose son Ashish is acussed of driving the car into a crowd of protesting farmers and killing four of them on October 3.

Last week, Venugopal had written to the President seeking appointment for the delegation describing the Lakhimpur Kheri killings as "broad day massacre of farmers".

Also Read | Lakhimpur violence: Ashish Mishra taken to Crime Branch office for interrogation

“Even more tragic are the open warnings given by Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni and consequent trampling of farmers under a Thar Jeep owned by the Minister and his family,” Venugopal said in his letter.

The letter said the "shocking incident" has "shaken the conscience of the nation" and "farmers, who were eyewitnesses, have openly stated that they were run over by a vehicle being driven by the son of the Union Minister of State for Home Affairs. Despite all-round protests and intervention of the Supreme Court, no decisive action has been taken either against the guilty or against the Minister."

While Ashish was arrested on Saturday, Congress has been stepping pressure on the government for the ouster of his father. While it held a 'maun vrat' (vow of silence) protest demanding his sacking, Priyanka on Tuesday joined a large gathering of farmers from various states in Tikonia village in Uttar Pradesh as part of last prayers in honour of the four deceased farmers and a journalist, who were killed in the violence.

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