By filing a new set of charges in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has made the continuation of Minister of State (Home) Ajay Mishra Teni in the Union Council of Ministers untenable. However, he has also attempted to strike at the central leadership of the party.
Referring to the October 3 incident, the Special Investigating Team (SIT) of the UP police described the deaths as a "pre-planned conspiracy". Previous charges of causing death by rash and negligent driving have been now replaced by charges of murder and "criminal conspiracy" besides rioting, armed with a deadly weapon, and the culprits committing an offence with a "common objective" under Section 149 of the Indian Penal Code (IPC). With the new charges, Adityanath has acquired more leverage to assert his control over political processes in UP leading up to the election in February.
It remains to be seen whether charges under Section 149 of the IPC will be used to bring in more people to show that they shared a common objective. Both IPC Section 34 ("common intention") and 149 ("common object") deal with the vicarious liability of a person for the actions of others. The difference, however, is that while "common intention" assumes concerted action by two or more people according to a pre-arranged plan, "common object" involving five or more people (in an unlawful assembly) does not necessarily require proof of a prior meeting of minds. To that extent, the ambit of the charge has been restricted. For now, the chief judicial magistrate agreed with the defence lawyers and did not see it fit to use the broader Section 34 ("common intention").
The charges under Sections 3/25/30 of the Arms Act suggest that the weapons in possession of the minister's son and his entourage were unlicensed and illegal. It also confirms that weapons were fired on the protesting farmers. The Samyukta Kisan Morcha had alleged that one of the farmers had been shot dead by the minister's son Ashish Mishra.
The charges of committing an offence under Section 120B (conspiracy) of the IPC are punishable by death and suggest that the SIT is confident of establishing criminal conspiracy. It might be recalled that minister Ajay Mishra Teni was seen as the agent provocateur who had threatened agitating farmers in a public meeting a few days before the October 3 incident. "If I decide to show them my true power, then they will not only have to leave their villages but also the district." In response to showing him black flags earlier, he had boasted, "Had I alighted from my car, then they (the farmers) would not have been able even to flee… people here are familiar with my history." Now that same history and the charge of premeditated murder may haunt him.
The meeting where the farmers were deliberately run over by vehicles was a protest against a visit by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to Lakhimpur Kheri with Teni in attendance. In principle, although he seems distant from the case today, the police dragnet could potentially extend to Maurya, a potential challenger to Adityanath's position, should the BJP win in UP. Maurya is close to Ajay Mishra Teni and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
However, proving conspiracy against Teni and Maurya would require considerable effort and would depend on the statements of the 12 others arrested along with the minister's son Ashish Mishra. If they say that the murder was a planned conspiracy, then even those absent from the site of the incident may be questioned by the SIT. If Teni and Maurya are called for questioning, their political careers would be virtually over.
In what appears to be a tug-of-war with the BJP high command, Adityanath's fancy footwork seems directed at recovering control over the political process in UP before the elections. With the more serious charges being levied in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, he has possibly also gained some leverage over ticket distribution in the upcoming UP elections, a process in which he may have expected to be marginalised. So far, he has been forced into a supporting role to the party mascot Prime Minister Modi. Modi's packed itinerary in UP has dominated the momentum for the upcoming crucial state polls. In the latest episode of the electoral soap opera on Monday, the prime minister hogged the footage as he undertook a ceremonial bath in the Ganges and carried the holy "Ganga Jal" for the inauguration of the Kashi-Vishwanath temple corridor. Chief Minister Adityanath was clearly not part of the script beyond a "special appearance" in a few frames.
With the new charges of "pre-planned conspiracy" in the Lakhimpur Kheri case, the central leadership of the BJP will have to somehow engineer the investigation away from the SIT manned by the UP police to its 'caged parrot', the CBI. Otherwise, it will have to work out a truce with Adityanath in ticket distribution, which may well also be forced on the party by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.
All said and done, Adityanath's credibility is inversely proportional to Prime Minister Modi's under the current circumstances. If the BJP wins UP, Adityanath can boast that while the Modi-Amit Shah duo lost West Bengal, he managed to retain the largest state in India. If the BJP loses, he can still blame the central leadership of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). After all, he neither brought in the controversial farm laws nor did he threaten the farmers – in fact, his police never resorted to violence against them, and he allowed their massive rallies to proceed peacefully both at Muzaffarnagar and Lucknow. He can also blame the state of the economy, growing unemployment and price rise on the Centre. Also Covid deaths, and shortage in oxygen and vaccine supplies. He could even become the nucleus of anti-Modi forces within the BJP in case the party loses in UP.
(The writer is a journalist based in Delhi)
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are the author's own. They do not necessarily reflect the views of DH.
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