Minutes before Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s programme in Lucknow, Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra released a video posing questions for the PM after violence in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri. She urged the Prime Minister to listen to the demands of the farmers and do justice with them.

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“I hear you are coming to Lucknow for Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav. Have you seen this video? (She held a mobile phone showing a jeep running over a group of farmers, which Gandhi claimed is from Lakhimpur Kheri) Why hasn’t this man been arrested? Leaders like us who want to visit Lakhimpur Kheri have been put under custody without any FIR, I want to know why is this man free?” Gandhi said in the video.

She also questioned why Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni has not been sacked. The farmers have claimed that the vehicle which ran over the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri’s Tikonia on Sunday was part of the convoy of Teni’s son Ashish.

“When you sit on the dais for Azadi ka Mahotsav festival today Modiji, please remember that we got our Independence because of the farmers. Even today, their sons protect our borders. Our farmers are troubled for months, and have been raising their voices but you have been ignoring them,” the Congress general secretary further said in the video.

“I urge you to come to Lakhimpur and understand the pain of the farmer who is the soul of this country. It is your duty to protect them,” Gandhi further said.

PM Modi is coming to Lucknow to unveil 75 urban development projects in Uttar Pradesh. He will digitally hand over keys of Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Urban (PMAY-U) houses to 75,000 beneficiaries in 75 districts of Uttar Pradesh and will also interact virtually with beneficiaries of the scheme of Uttar Pradesh.

Priyanka Gandhi and the Congress party have been attacking the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh and at the Centre, accusing them of not caring about the farmers. Gandhi, the Congress in-charge for eastern Uttar Pradesh, was headed to Lakhimpur Kheri but was detained in Sitapur on Monday. She has been kept at a guest house there.

Besides Priyanka Gandhi, state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu, national secretary Dheeraj Gurjar, Youth Congress national president BV Srinivas, party MLC Deepak Singh are also under detention, Congress media and communication vice chairman Pankaj Srivastava said.

Eight people were killed in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday, when farmer leaders were returning after holding a protest against the Centre’s three farm laws. While the protesters claimed the car of Union minister’s son mowed down four of them, the police said other four died after being beaten by the farmers.

Union minister Ajay Mishra Teni denied all the allegations against his son and claimed that protesters first pelted stones due to which the driver lost control of the vehicle, leading to the accident.

On Tuesday, the state government successfully completed negotiations with the farmers after which they ended their protest. The assurances include compensation for the family members of the farmers killed, a government job for a member of the deceased’s kin (based on qualification), and FIR against the minister and his son.