Farmers Movement Archive

Belligerent BJP MP Varun Gandhi again tweets against Lakhimpur Kheri incident

LUCKNOW: BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday continued to vent out his anger over the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, saying justice must be swiftly delivered, before every farmer considers the regime “arrogant and cruel”. Tagging a video, purportedly showing two SUVs ploughing through protesting farmers, Varun tweeted: “The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for spilling farmers’ blood.” The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the in… https://t.co/b8Ij5Vzk04— Varun Gandhi (@varungandhi80) 1633577113000And within hours of his outburst, Varun and his mother, Menaka Gandhi, an MP from Sultanpur, were dropped from the 80-member BJP national executive announced on Thursday. Earlier, Menaka was not repeated as a Union minister after BJP’s thumping victory in 2019 Lok Sabha elections and then not accommodated in the recent reshuffle in the Modi cabinet as well. “The party brass is strong enough to take hard decisions, irrespective of the stature of a party functionary,” said a senior BJP leader. Gandhi’s hardened stand came amid an unrelenting Opposition’s attempts to corner BJP over the gruesome incident, in which eight persons, including four farmers, were killed. And, a day after Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and sister Priyanka met the family of deceased farmers, SP chief Akhilesh Yadav too headed to Lakhimpur Kheri. On October 4, a day after the horror unfolded in Kheri, Varun, an MP from Pilibhit, dashed off a letter to chief minister Yogi Adityanath, demanding a Supreme Court-monitored CBI probe into the incident, which he said, was “unforgivable in any decent civilisation”. He also sought swift identification and arrest of accused. Varun could not be reached for comment. His staff said, the MP is unwilling to speak to the media at this point of time. His statements, nevertheless, have caused discomfort to BJP. A senior party leader told TOI that Varun’s belligerent tweets were a sign of brewing anguish against the party, which would be taken up by the high command. “His (Varun’s) parliamentary seat has farmers and this could be the reason for his repeated outbursts. The party has a disciplinary committee at the Centre, which would consider his statements and act accordingly,” said UP BJP spokesperson Hero Bajpai. Last month, Varun became one of the few BJP leaders to come out in support of farmers, who gathered at Muzaffarnagar on September 5 to protest against farm laws. Experts said Varun’s recent observation vis-a-vis farmers attained political significance even as UP heads to elections next year.

The Times of India

2021-10-08

Lucknow