Party is not in the favor of precipitate action against Mishra, and that he will not, at this time, be removed from the Council of Ministers.
New Delhi: On the Opposition’s demand for the resignation of MoS Ajay Mishra, the BJP sources have stated that a minister cannot be punished for his son’s actions. This statement from BJP comes amid the demand from the opposition for the resignation of the MoS Ajay Mishra, over his son being charged in the Lakhimpur Kheri farm killings.
According to sources, the party is not in the favor of precipitate action against Mishra, and that he will not, at this time, be removed from the Council of Ministers.
Sources focused on the points stated by the union ministers and senior BJP leaders, that the Lakhimpur Kheri case is sub judice (being heard in court) and that the SIT had yet to file its final report.
Party sources did, however, admit that Mishra’s shocking outburst at journalists yesterday (at Lakhimpur Kheri, in fact) was “wrong”. The minister had been cautioned, the sources said.
Yesterday, while inaugurating an oxygen plant in Lakhimpur, Mishra was filmed lunging at a reporter who asked him about the charges against his son. He was also filmed throwing abuses at the media.
Mishra has been under pressure since his son, Ashish Mishra, was accused and arrested for the death of four farmers in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri in October.
The minister – who has refused to submit to that pressure – clocked into his office in Delhi’s North Block this morning, even as Congress MP Rahul Gandhi branded him a “criminal” and demanded he quit.
Speaking to NDTV after the protests, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said the government was unwilling to discuss the issue – a demand of the opposition – as the matter is sub judice.
Gandhi and other opposition MPs were relentless in demanding the minister’s sacking yesterday too, with the Congress leader accusing the government of shielding him.
Demands for Mishra’s resignation, or sacking, have intensified since the Special Investigation Team (SIT) handling the case said the killing of the farmers was a “planned conspiracy”.
The farmers were crushed – allegedly by a convoy of vehicles that included an SUV driven by Ashish Mishra – “with intent to commit murder” and it was “not death by negligence”, its initial report said.
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