Amid immense backlash over Lakhimpur Kheri violence, BJP chief of Uttar Pradesh unit Swatantra Dev Singh Sunday urged party workers to win people’s trust with their behaviour, saying that being a political leader does not mean that “we can loot or mow down someone under a Fortuner”.
The remarks came after Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish was arrested on Saturday for allegedly running over four farmers during Lakhimpur Kheri violence last week.
On October 3, eight people, including four farmers, lost their lives after a farmers’ protest in Lakhimpur Kheri district of UP turned violent. The farmers protesting over UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit were allegedly mowed down by one of the vehicles which had BJP workers.
Speaking at a meeting of UP BJP’s minority morcha, Singh said, “We have not come in politics to loot (people), nor have we come to crush someone under a Fortuner (SUV)…You will get votes by your behaviour. If 10 people of your locality are praising you, my heart swells (with pride). Your behaviour should be such that people do not turn away their faces after seeing you?”
The violence that took place months before the Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh sparked a massive political storm with the opposition slamming the Yogi Adityanath-led government in the state.
The Supreme Court last week pulled up the UP government, saying it is not satisfied with the steps taken by it. It questioned the state government over not arresting the accused against whom FIR has been lodged.
“What is the message you are sending… Do you treat accused the same way in other murder cases in the country,” the apex court asked the Yogi Adityanath government.
