Several Opposition MPs, led by Congress' Rahul Gandhi, on Tuesday, 21 December, marched to Vijay Chowk in Delhi demanding suspension of Minister of State (MoS) for Home Ajay Mishra Teni over the Lakhimpur Kheri matter.
As the march began from the MK Gandhi statue in the Parliament, Gandhi said that "Teni will not be spared" and that he will have to go to jail.
"The Opposition has once again come together to raise the issue of the Lakhimpur Kheri matter. We have repeatedly said that a minister's son has murdered farmers using his jeep. A report has said that it s a conspiracy and not an isolated incident. The Prime Minister is not doing anything about the minister," Gandhi said while addressing the media.
"On one hand, the PM pretends to apologise to the farmers but on the other, he retains their murderers in his cabinet. The Opposition has come together to send a message that such acts against the farmers and the people of India will not be tolerated," he added.
Gandhi further said that neither the media nor the government is doing its job properly
The Congress and several other parties have been demanding the resignation of Teni, who has been accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which farmers protesting against the now repealed farm laws were rammed over by an SUV.
The incident had led to the death of eight people, including four protesting farmers.
MoS Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra has already been arrested in the matter.
The ongoing winter session of the Parliament has also been disrupted several times over the past few days over the matter.
The Uttar Pradesh Special Investigation Team (SIT), which had been probing the Lakhimpur Kheri case, had moved an application in the court on 13 December to invoke more criminal charges against the accused, including that of attempt to murder.
The investigating officer said that the Lakhimpur incident was "not an act of negligence but a pre-planned one."
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