LUCKNOW: The Vidhan Parishad was rocked by demands to sack Union minister of state for home, Ajay Mishra Teni, over an SIT report that has lodged a case of premeditated murder against his son, Ashish Mishra, for mowing down farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri.
Samajwadi Party and Congress members sat on a dharna outside the Assembly and when SP members entered the well of the House during question hour to demand Teni’s dismissal, the session was suspended for 15 minutes.
During a discussion on the matter, SP MLC Naresh Uttam said, it’s a big embarrassment for the state government that the Supreme Court had to take cognizance of the matter as it felt the government was trying to shield some people. Another SP MLC, Shashank Yadav, said as a face-saver, the government promised compensation to families of the dead and injured, but beyond that nothing was done.
“The court even said witnesses were to be provided security, including Tajinder Singh Virk of Samyukt Kisan Morcha, who was the target. However, neither has any compensation been given to the injured nor security to Virk,” Yadav said.
Rajesh Yadav, another SP MLC raised the issue of Teni threatening media persons, adding: “If he remains minister, more such incidents could take place.” His colleague, Rajpal Kashyap, attacked BJP for its constant jibes against ‘lal topi’, referring to the latest statement by PM Narendra Modi.
“The lal topi is a red alert for BJP. They accuse us of being goons, but its own ministers are goons. BJP is an anti-farmer party as it has been calling agitating farmers terrorists and foreigners,” he said.
Congress MLC Deepak Singh too questioned the government’s action in detaining party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi and senior members for three days, when they were on their way to Lakhimpur Kheri. “They were more interested in stopping the Opposition, not in catching the accused,” he said.
