Lakhimpur Kheri: Vijay Mishra, the father of BJP booth president Shubham Mishra, one of two party workers killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence Sunday, says he is disappointed that Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra didn’t visit the grieving family.
“Our ideology might be different but we are all humans. My son has also lost his life in the violence and we are as much victims as the others,” he told ThePrint over the phone from the family’s home at Shivpuri, Lakhimpur city. “She (Priyanka) should have visited us and we still hope she will.”
A total of eight people were killed in the violence at Lakhimpur Kheri, which erupted during a protest by farmers against Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra.
While purported videos from the site show a car from the minister’s convoy ploughing into the protesters, Mishra has alleged that the farmers who died came under the vehicle when it lost control under stone-pelting by miscreants among the protesters.
The minister’s son Ashish Mishra, who was allegedly in one of the cars and is accused of opening fire at the protesters, has been booked for alleged murder, and the UP government has launched a judicial inquiry into the violence.
Four of those killed have been identified as protesters, while a fifth was a journalist. The three others — two BJP workers and a driver employed by Ashish Mishra — are believed to have been a a part of the minister’s entourage.
Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and MP Rahul Gandhi Wednesday met the families of the protesting farmers who died, after receiving permission from the UP government. They also visited the family of the journalist, Raman Kashyap.
Meanwhile, the chief ministers of Punjab and Chhattisgarh announced a compensation of Rs 50 lakh each for the families of the farmers and journalist.
Said Vijay Mishra, “My son who was connected with the BJP is no more. She (Priyanka) should have come to our house to see what we are going through. What conditions we are living in… Are we not humans?
“My son’s one-year-old daughter is an orphan now. We are also farmers… but they can only see those farmers who are actually murderers. This should not be reduced to party level.”
Speaking to the media in Lucknow Wednesday evening, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said she wanted to go meet the families of the BJP workers, but the police told her they did not wish to meet her.
“I would like to say that I asked them that two BJP workers have also died and to check with them whether they would like to meet me. They told me that ‘they don’t want to meet you’,” she said. “I then said, please, do share my condolences with them. I said this,” she said.
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‘She should name the police personnel she spoke to’
Asked about Priyanka’s claim that she did inquire with the police about meeting them, Vijay Mishra said the family had not spoken to anyone from the police.
Priyanka, he added, should name the personnel who told her the families didn’t want to meet them.
“Why would she not meet us? This should not be reduced to party level. I want to ask which police official told her that we didn’t wish to meet? Whom did she speak to? She should tell us. Did she speak to me, my son (Shubham’s brother), my father?
“I am meeting everyone. For the sake of humanity, she should have come here too. It seems they have nothing to do with our pain,” he said.
Vijay Mishra had told ThePrint Wednesday that Lakhimpur Kheri MP and Union MoS Ajay Mishra and Lakhimpur MLA Yogesh Verma had paid the family a visit, but nobody else from the BJP had done so.
(Edited by Sunanda Ranjan)
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