The arrest of Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra in Sitapur while she was headed to the site of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident has sparked massive outrage across the party cadre, with several other Opposition parties also alleging high-handedness of the Yogi Adityanath-led Uttar Pradesh government.
Expressing his solidarity with the Gandhi scion, Punjab Congress MLA Navjot Singh Sidhu on Tuesday issued an open threat on social media that the entire Punjab unit of the party will march to Lakhimpur Kheri if Priyanka is not immediately released.
“If, by tomorrow, the Union Minister’s son behind the brutal murder of Farmers is not arrested, and our leader Priyanka Gandhi being unlawfully arrested, fighting for farmers is not released, the Punjab Congress will march towards Lakhimpur Kheri !” Sidhu said in a post on social media platform Twitter.
Despite the Congress party questioning Priyanka Gandhi’s “unlawful” detention, a case was registered against her and 10 others in Sitapur under relevant sections pertaining to preventive detention due to apprehension of breach of peace.
The case against Gandhi has been registered under sections 151, 107, 116 (all related to preventive detention due to apprehension of breach of peace) of the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC), while a case has also been filed against Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Kumar Lallu and party leader Deependra Hooda.
“These are preventive sections. Once we get assurance that there would not be violation of peace by them these sections will be removed,” Sitapur Sub-divisional Magistrate Pyare Lal Maurya said, according to news agency PTI.
Priyanka Gandhi and other Congress leaders were detained on Monday when they were on their way to meet the victims and their families who got caught in the violence that erupted during a farmers’ protest in the state’s Lakhimpur Kheri area on Sunday.
Eight people reportedly died in the violence, which included both farmers and BJP workers, ahead of Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to Lakhimpur.
