A Congress delegation of senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, arrived in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday and met the family members of three people killed in violence that erupted during a farmers' protest here on Sunday.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, who was detained at the PAC guest house in Sitapur since Monday morning, asserted that the farmers killed in the violence "deserve justice".
The Congress leaders drove to the Chaukhada farm residence of deceased Lovepreet Singh, spoke to the bereaved family members and conveyed their deepest condolences to them, party sources said.
They sat on the floor of the house along with the father and sisters of the deceased and were seen listening to them intently.
"Shared the grief of martyr Lovepreet's family, but till justice is done, this satyagraha will continue," Rahul Gandhi said in a tweet in Hindi.
The Congress leaders also visited the house of local journalist Raman Kashyap in the Nighasan area of the district and met his family members. Kashyap was among the eight people, including four farmers, killed in Sunday's violence.
"Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi met the family of journalist late Raman Kashyap in Lakhimpur and expressed their condolences. #NyayHokarRahega," the Uttar Pradesh Congress said in a tweet and posted pictures of the meeting.
The Congress leaders later drove to the house of another deceased farmer, Nakshatra Singh, at Dhaurhara, sources said.
Priyanka Gandhi said she met some of the victims' families, adding that she will meet the kin of the two other deceased farmers on Thursday.
According to Congress spokesperson Anshu Awasthi, the party leaders will spend the night in Lucknow and are scheduled to visit the remaining two bereaved families in Bahraich on Thursday.
Besides Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, his Punjab counterpart Charanjit Singh Channi and Deepender Singh Hooda were part of the Congress delegation that met the bereaved families.
Priyanka Gandhi was adamant on meeting the families of the farmers killed in Sunday's violence and had asserted that she would proceed to Lakhimpur as soon as she was released from detention.
She was released from detention in the afternoon.
Eight people were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence on Sunday. Of the eight killed, four were farmers, who were allegedly knocked down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area.
The other four were two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra and Kashyap, a journalist working for a private television channel.
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