New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi reminding him that over 700 farmers would have still been alive if had he taken the decision earlier. The MP demanded ₹ 1 crore compensation for those farmers family who died in the course of the year-long protest.
Though Gandhi has not named anyone, his letter refers to the minister of state for home affairs, Ajay Mishra Teni, whose son, Ashish Teni has been named as a prime accused in the case and is in custody.
He also wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider “appropriately strict action” against the Union minister who is connected to the violence that erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri.
“I thank you for your large-heartedness in announcing that these three laws will be repealed. More than 700 of our farmer brothers and sisters have been martyred in this movement, as they peacefully protested in extremely difficult and hostile conditions. I believe that if this decision had been taken earlier, all these innocent lives would not have been lost,” Gandhi wrote in his letter.
In his letter to the Prime Minister, Gandhi has blamed “provocative” statements made by several senior party colleagues for instigating the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri that left four farmers dead.
On Lakhimpur Kheri, he wrote, “Many leaders sitting in senior positions have given provocative statements against our agitating farmers. It is the result of such statements and the adversarial atmosphere created around the movement, that on October 3, four of our farmer brothers were crushed to death by vehicle in Lakhimpur Kheri. This heartbreaking incident is a blemish on our democracy. It is my request to you that appropriately strict action is taken against the Union Minister who has been connected to this incident, so that there is a fair inquiry.”
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