Priyanka Gandhi on ‘hunger strike’ following detention

Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi on Monday sat on a hunger strike following her detention on the way to meet the families of farmers killed in the wake of violence during an anti-farm laws protest the previous day.

“Today’s incident shows that this government is using politics to mow down farmers. This is the farmers’ country, not BJP’s… I’m not committing any crime by deciding to meet the victims’ kin…Why are you stopping us? You should have a warrant,” the Congress leader said after being detained.

Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was also detained by the police from outside his residence in Lucknow where he staged a sit-in after being stopped from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri district, where eight including four farmers were killed on Sunday.

On Sunday, four farmers were among eight persons killed in UP’s Lakhimpur Kheri after a convoy of three SUVs, including one owned by Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra, hit a group of farm protesters leading to a clash.

Farm leaders have also said that they would hold protests in all districts on Monday to demand punishment for the guilty. They also seek the “arrest of the Minister and his son” who, they said, was driving one of the SUVs. They called for a probe by a sitting judge of the Supreme Court.