Lakhimpur Kheri Violence: Congress Demands MoS Ajay Mishra's Dismissal, Judicial Probe By Two Sitting Judges

The delegation, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, demanded an impartial judicial probe by two sitting Supreme Court judges.

President Ram Nath Kovind with Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad and A.K. Antony, during a meeting at Rashtrapati Bhavan in New Delhi. (PTI Photo)

New Delhi: A high-level delegation of Congress leaders met President Ram Nath Kovind at the Rashtrapati Bhavan here on Wednesday and demanded immediate dismissal of Minister of State for Home Affairs Ajay Kumar Mishra over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.

The delegation, including former Congress president Rahul Gandhi, demanded an impartial judicial probe by two sitting Supreme Court judges.

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Gandhi after the meeting told reporters that he conveyed to the President that the MoS Home should resign to ensure an impartial probe in the Lakhimpur violence as his son Ashish is an accused in the matter, PTI reported.

Asserting “there cannot be an impartial inquiry and justice cannot be given till the time the MoS Home is sacked”, Gandhi said: “This is the voice of not just the families of those killed but of all the farmers and this voice is being suppressed.”

Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who was also the part of the delegation which included senior leaders A.K. Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad and Mallikarjun Kharge, said President Kovind “has assured us that he will talk to the government in this regard today itself”.

The delegation also presented to President Kovind a memorandum of facts about the incident in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed.

The situation is unlikely to change without any intervention given that Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, continue to make conciliatory statements towards Ajay Mishra, the Congress memorandum said.

“Ajay Mishra's role is also yet to be investigated and the same is unlikely while he continues in office. Furthermore, which police official would dare to fairly investigate the son of Union MoS Home Affairs with the father occupying a position of such high influence and who enjoys continued endorsements from both the Central and the State governments,” the Congress memorandum said.

“In these difficult circumstances, we call upon you as the custodian of our Constitution and the moral compass to this Government to immediately dismiss Union MoS Home Affairs and to direct an independent judicial investigation by a Commission comprising of two sitting judges of the Supreme Court of India or the high court,” the memorandum added.

Hoping that President Kovind will treat this matter with the urgency it deserves and take appropriate action, the Congress memorandum also mentions that like crores of other Indians, the President is also “deeply affected” by the “unforgivable and merciless murder” of the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.

“The incident has scarred the soul of India. This deliberate act of murder, in broad daylight followed by the audacious reactions of the State and Central governments, has completely eroded the people's faith in those tasked with bringing these perpetrators to justice,” the party said, PTI reported.

Earlier on Saturday, the Uttar Pradesh Police arrested the Union Minister’s son Ashish Mishra, who has been named in the FIR and is accused of mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.