Rae Bareli: Escalating his attack on the ruling party in the run-up to the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections, Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav on Saturday compared the Lakhimpur violence with the Jallianwala Bagh massacre stating the British had fired bullets from the front, while the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) ran over a jeep from behind.


“In Uttar Pradesh, the incident of a jeep being run over on farmers took place. If the pages of history are turned back, then one is reminded of the Jallianwala Bagh massacre, when the British fired (at people) from the front. But the BJP ran over the jeep on them from behind,” Yadav said.


The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister reiterated his demand for Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Misra Teni’s dismissal in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.


“No action has been initiated against accused persons. The Union Minister of State for Home (Ajay Mishra) has not been removed so far. For those who are accused, bulldozers have not been run over their house. This government is working in a discriminatory manner,” he told the media in Rae Bareli on a two-day tour as part of the seventh leg of ‘Samajwadi Vijay Yatra’, PTI reported.


Violence had erupted in Lakhimpur Kheri earlier on October 3 when the farmers were protesting against Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya’s visit to his native place.


Four agitating farmers were run over by a vehicle, while four others, including a journalist, were also killed in the violence that followed.


Claiming that BJP will be wiped out in the upcoming assembly elections, the Samajwadi Party chief alleged that the saffron party puts up a lens of religion and sees everything from that perspective as the polls approach.


Asserting that people have faced problems, shortage and humiliation in the BJP rule, Yadav alleged the ruling party is insulting the people of Uttar Pradesh.