Bharatiya Janata Party MP from Pilibhit, Varun Gandhi, has written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi to consider appropriately strict action against the Union minister who is connected to the violence that erupted in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3 that left eight dead.
Varun Gandhi took to Twitter on Saturday to share a letter which he had written to PM Modi over the farmers’ issue. He said, “Many leaders sitting in senior positions have given provocative statements against our agitating farmers. It is the result of such statements and the adversarial atmosphere created around the movement, that on October 3, five of our farmer brothers were crushed to death by vehicles in Lakhimpur Kheri. This heartbreaking incident is a blemish on our democracy.”
“It is my request to you that appropriately strict action is taken against the Union minister who has been the connection to this incident, so that there is a fair enquiry,” Varun Gandhi said.
Varun Gandhi requested PM Modi to “quash all politically motivated false FIRs against protesting farmers.
He also asks for Minimum Support Price or MSP to be made legally binding. “There are more than 85 per cent small and marginal farmers in our country. For the empowerment of these farmers, we have to ensure that they get remunerative prices for their crops.”
The BJP MP also demanded Rs 1 crore compensation be given to farmers killed during the prolonged movement and all “politically motivated false” FIRs against the protesters be quashed.
This is not the first time that Varun Gandhi has come out in the open against the party in general and the Yogi Adityanath government in particular.
The BJP MP has been vocal in favour of the farmers’ urging the government to talk to them and accept their demands. Demanding legal guarantee for the minimum support price (MSP), he had earlier said that farmers will continue to be exploited in ‘mandis’ as long as this is not done.
(With inputs from ANI)
