Navjot Sidhu warns of march to Lakhimpur Kheri if Priyanka not released

Punjab Congress president Navjot Singh Sidhu has warned that party activists from the state would lead a march to Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri if Priyanka Gandhi Vadra is not released and the accused in the violence which killed eight people is not arrested.

"If, by tomorrow, the Union Minister's son behind the brutal murder of farmers is not arrested, and our leader @PriyankaGandhi being unlawfully arrested, fighting for farmers is not released, the Punjab Congress will march towards Lakhimpur Kheri!" Sidhu tweeted on Tuesday evening.



Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and her party colleagues were detained by the UP police on Monday while they were on their way to violence-hit Lakhimpur . A day later, they registered a case against her and 10 others under sections related to preventive detention due to apprehension of breach of peace.

Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri, with farmer leaders alleging that MoS Home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra was in the SUV that mowed down some protesters. Both minister Mishra and his son have denied they were at the site.

Ashish Mishra and 15-20 unnamed others haven been mentioned in the FIR on the incident on charges that include murder, but no arrests have been made so far.

An unverified video which went viral on social media showed an SUV ploughing into some of the farmers protesting against the visit of deputy CM Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Sidhu, who was sulking just a few days ago for not having his way in Punjab government appointments, jumped into the thick of action this week holding a protest outside the Punjab Raj Bhavan in Chandigarh.

The Yogi Adityanath government has kept the Lakhimpur area out of bounds for opposition partly leaders. Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi was denied permission to visit the district, while his deputy Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa and some Congress MLAs were detained at the Haryana-UP border.