Varun Gandhi fires a fresh salvo, says farmers murdered in Kheri incident

BJP MP Varun Gandhi’s fresh salvo at Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in the wake of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident that claimed the lives of four farmers should not come as a surprise to those who have followed his politics. He has often tread a path which has not been in sync with the saffron party line, a trait that has ruffled a few within the organization from time to time.

On Monday, Gandhi tweeted his condolences to the farmers “martyred” in Lakhimpur Kheri and the incident “heart-wrenching”. In his letter to the chief minister he demanded that those responsible should be tried for murder. Four farmers were run over by a vehicle in a convoy having associates of Union Minister of State for Home Rajesh Mishra Teni. His son was reportedly seated in one of the vehicles. In retaliatory action, four BJP workers were killed by the protestors.

“The heart-wrenching incident of October 3 at Lakhimpur Kheri in which protesting farmers were brutally run over has caused pain and anger among the people across the country….. The murder of our food providers in this incident is unforgivable in any civilized society,” Gandhi said in his letter.


He further states that if the farmers were protesting in a democratic manner on some issues they are aggrieved with, then they should have been dealt with in a balanced and patient manner. He has called for identifying the culprits and trying them under Section 302 of IPC. A Supreme Court monitoried probe should be conducted by CBI into the matter. He has demanded a Rs One Crore compensation to the four farmers killed in the incident.


This is not the first time that Gandhi has spoken out against the Yogi government or taken a stand that corners the BJP.

On September 27, when BJP was tom-tomming the increase in sugarcane prices to Rs 350 per quintal for farmers, Gandhi wrote to the UP chief minister demanding that this should be further upped to Rs 400 or a bonus of Rs 50 per quintal be given by the government.

He has espoused the cause of farmers in another letter to the CM, met delegations of farmers and addressed gatherings to support their cause. Gandhi, who authored “A Rural Manifesto” on the issues plaguing rural India, has often described farmers as our own “flesh and blood” and “sons of the soil”.

He had also spoken out against the Haryana SDM who was filmed giving orders to police personnel on August 28 to break the heads of agitating farmers.

Varun Gandhi was the first from the BJP to extend support to Anna Hazare’s “Indian against Corruption” fast here. He shared the dais with the Gandhian at Ramlila grounds. After some initial hesitation, BJP officially extended its support to the movement.

Gandhi had also welcomed Rohingyas fleeing from Myanmar into India, a stand not backed by the BJP and more in consonance with AIMIM Chief Asadudin Owaisi’s position on the issue.

While a section within BJP and the RSS has tacitly backed Varun in the past, there are some who are wary of the Nehru-Gandhi family scion and feel he is too independent in his thoughts.

When the issue of increasing the salary of parliamentarians came up in the two Houses, Gandhi opposed it and said they should not decide their own salaries. Instead, a commission should be set up to look into the issue.

He has also batted for ending the death penalty and his views were acknowledged by the Justice AP Shah Commission.

Though Gandhi has not raised the banner of revolt within BJP, it would be interesting to see which trajectory his political career takes in the coming months.