Form of words:
Chandigarh: BJP national general secretary Tarun Chugh on Saturday criticized opposition parties for allegedly trying to “secretly hijack” the farmers’ movement by making the Lakhimpur Kheri incident political capital.
In a statement, Chugh accused the Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal (SAD) of showing sympathy towards farmers in view of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly elections.
Eight people were killed in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. Four of them were farmers, who were allegedly crushed to death by vehicles driven by BJP workers on their way to welcome Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.
Chugh said that the Uttar Pradesh government has registered criminal cases in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and constituted a judicial commission under a retired high court judge.
So in this situation, it is only “cheap politics” that political parties are making a way for Lakhimpur Kheri to give “lip service” to the farmers, he said.
This was a law and order problem in Lakhimpur Kheri and the UP government is tackling it firmly.
Chugh said that the UP government stood with the affected families and assured them of all possible help, following which they called off their agitation.
On the other hand, he said, political parties like Congress and Shiromani Akali Dal, after failing to do anything for the welfare of farmers when they were in power, are now showing “sympathy” for them.
Besides four farmers, two BJP workers, Ajay Mishra’s driver and Raman Kashyap, a journalist working for a private TV channel, were killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
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