Oppn holds march seeking minister Mishra’s sacking
NEW DELHI: Opposition leaders on Tuesday took out a protest march here demanding that action be taken against Union Minister Ajay Mishra in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence case, with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi saying they will not rest till the minister is sent to jail.
Leaders of several opposition parties took out the march from Gandhi statue inside Parliament complex to Vijay Chowk demanding that the minister, whose son has been arrested in the Lakhimpur violence case, be immediately sacked.
They also demanded that the suspension of their 12 MPs be immediately revoked. MPs of various parties raised slogans against the government and held placards and banners demanding the immediate sacking of the minister. Talking to reporters at Vijay Chowk, Gandhi said the entire opposition was united in raising its demand for the sacking of Minister Mishra.
Referring to the SIT report on the violence, Gandhi said a report has come out that it was a conspiracy and not an isolated incident. “We will not spare him (Ajay Mishra) and continue our struggle till he is sent to jail,” Gandhi told reporters.
“The prime minister has not done anything on this. Neither the government nor the media is doing its job,” he charged.
“The prime minister on the one hand apologises to farmers, but on the other hand he keeps the minister who is involved in Lakhimpur Kheri incident in his cabinet. We will not accept what is being done against farmers,” Gandhi said. Opposition leaders said they will continue to raise the demand even if many more of their MPs are suspended.
Earlier in the morning, leaders of several opposition parties met in the chamber of Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and discussed their further strategy.
Opposition parties have been protesting against the suspension of MPs, which they have termed as undemocratic and against the rules of the House. Proceedings of the Rajya Sabha have been disrupted repeatedly on the matter.
Kharge and Congress MP Deepinder Singh Hooda also gave adjournment notices in the Rajya Sabha on the Lakhimpur matter.
Congress MP Manickam Tagore gave a similar adjournment notice in the Lok Sabha on the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Eight people, including four farmers, were killed in the Lakhimpur violence on October 3.
“I have given a suspension of business/notice under Rule 267 to discuss the recent SIT report on the manslaughter of Lakhimpur. We demand that MoS Ajay Mishra be immediately removed from his position to ensure a free and fair trial,” Kharge said on Twitter. “In order to ensure a free and fair trial of the murder case of innocent farmers, the Mos, who is father of the accused, must immediately be removed from his position,” Kharge said in his adjournment notice under Rule 267.
The notices were, however, disallowed by Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu. PTI SKC DV DV.
On Monday, at least 15 lawmakers, mostly from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), were not available during the Question
House in Lok Sabha even though their names were listed for posing questions to ministers, people familiar with the matter said.
A couple of Members of Parliament (MPs), however, later claimed to have been in the House and said they couldn’t participate in the Question Hour due to continuous protests by the Opposition who was seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
The absence of the BJP MPs prompted the Opposition to draw the Speaker’s attention to the issue, the people cited above said on condition of anonymity.
The MPs went missing even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi directed BJP Parliamentarians to regularly attend House proceedings or face consequences.