The opposition parties seem to have got just the right issue to boost their 2022 Uttar Pradesh assembly elections ambitions with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence that involved 8 people losing their lives and the involvement of the Union Minister of State Ajay Misra Teni's son.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government in Uttar Pradesh continued to run its government and the opposition kept making statements and doing token protests. Meanwhile, the Lakhimpur case proved to be a lucky opportunity for the political parties. From the Tikonia area of Lakhimpur Kheri, the opposition parties got an opportunity to heat up the electoral politics on the law and order issue. The opposition does not want to let this public-centred matter go out of their hands.
The leader of the main opposition party and former Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav had decided late in the night after getting information about the killing of the farmers that he would go out in the morning and meet the families of the victims. In order to prevent the matter from reaching other districts, the state government barricaded Akhilesh Yadav at his residence in Lucknow. Hundreds of Samajwadi Party workers protested outside his residence till late in the afternoon against their chief's stop. While giving a message to the workers, Akhilesh Yadav said that the Samajwadi Party workers should sit on dharna wherever they were. If the car is burnt in front of the police station, then the police must have set it on fire, so that the movement could be suppressed. Earlier, Akhilesh was sitting on a dharna outside his residence along with Professor Ram Gopal Yadav.
Priyanka Vadra, the national general secretary of Congress and in charge of UP, came to Lucknow late at night upon receiving the information about the death of the farmers. She left for Lakhimpur directly from the airport but was stopped in Sitapur before dawn and kept at the PAC guesthouse. Priyanka Vadra said that the whole country is shocked, shocked by what happened in Lakhimpur. People are being stopped from meeting the farmers. Former national president of the party Rahul Gandhi can also come to Lakhimpur. After Priyanka was stopped, there was a fierce clash and scuffle with the policemen there at the gate of PAC II Corps. Instructions have been issued to stop Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister at Lucknow airport as well.
Although nothing can be confirmed right now whether Rakesh Tikait will contest the elections to the farmers in the state or not, after late-night he reached the spot of Tikonia and held a press conference with the government officials on farmers' issues. The Aam Aadmi Party, which has been trying different tricks for the upcoming Uttar Pradesh elections for the last year, also raised the issue of law and order and protested in the capital itself. Meanwhile, Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar also wanted to make political moves around the death of the farmers and left for Lakhimpur but was stopped in Sitapur.
It has to be noted that after the death of nine people in the Tikunia area of Lakhimpur Kheri after the violence that erupted after farmers' riots on Sunday, all the opposition leaders met the families of the victims and traveled to console them. In view of the security arrangements, the state government imposed CrPC Section-144 at some places and placed many leaders under house arrest. Meanwhile, in light of the recent developments, the state government announced a compensation of Rs 45-45 lakh and a job to the next of kin of the deceased. It is true that the death of half a dozen people in the farmers' movement is a major event, seeing the 2022 elections very close by, it was an opportunity for the opposition and they did not miss to capitalize on it.