PPCC President Navjot Singh Sidhu staged a massive protest in front of Raj Bhavan on Monday, strongly condemning the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri. He was detained along with other Punjab Congress leaders, by Chandigarh police and later released. However, in view of the imposition of Section 144, the UP government denied permission to Punjab CM Charanjit Singh Channi and Deputy CM Sukhjinder Singh Randhawa to visit Lakhimpur Kehri following the recent incident of violence there.
After this, Randhawa along with some Congress MLAs started by road for UP to meet the families of the victims. On the way, they were detained by the UP police at UP-Haryana border and taken to Police Post, Shahjahanpur falling under Police Station, Sarsawa, Saharanpur. Randhawa was accompanied by PPCC Working President and MLA Kuljit Nagra and MLAs, Parminder Singh Pinky, Barinder Singh Pahra, Kuldeep Vaid, Kulbir Singh Zira, and Angad Singh.
Meanwhile, during the protest in front of Raj Bhavan, Sidhu said that UP police committed atrocities against the Congress national leader Priyanka Gandhi by arresting her, who reached to support the farmers. He demanded strict action against the killers of farmers. Sidhu was accompanied by more than a dozen INC MLAs, Punjab Youth Congress President Barinder Singh Dhillon and other Congress workers. He said that farmers were being forced to sacrifice their lives due to the adamant attitude of the Modi government. If the government is serious about the welfare of farmers, it should immediately repeal the farm laws and give legal recognition to the desired MSP on crops. After nearly an hour, police detained them and they were later released.
In the morning, Secretary Home, UP government informed the Director of Civil Aviation, Punjab in response to his letter, seeking permission for landing and taking off of CM’s Chopper at Lakhimpur Kheri, that it’s not feasible to grant permission keeping in view the law and order situation. CM had planned to rush to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the bereaved families in this hour of crisis.