Sitapur (UP): Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra sat on a hunger strike on Monday after being detained in Uttar Pradesh's Sitapur district while she was en route to Lakhimpur Kheri, her party said.
As Vadra began her dharna in a PAC guest house in the district, Congress leaders protested outside and raised slogans against the BJP-led state government over her "arrest".
State party leaders, including spokesperson Akhilesh Singh, swept the road outside the campus of the 2nd battalion of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC) during the agitation.
A 42-second video released by UP Congress spokesperson Vikas Srivastava showed Priyanka Gandhi sweeping a room in the guest house, where she has been detained, in Sitapur district which is adjacent to Lakhimpur Kheri.
"Priyanka Gandhi, Deepender Singh Hooda and other leaders were detained in Sitapur around 5 am," Congress state president Ajay Kumar Lallu said. The Congress leaders had to take alternative routes to reach the bordering Hargaon area in Sitapur as heavy security was deployed on the main roads amid tension in the violence-hit region of Lakhimpur.
"Priyanka ji has one demand that she wants to meet the farmers," Srivastava added.
The UP Congress said in a tweet: "Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi has been arrested. She is on hunger strike. Congressmen are protesting. Government will have to bow to our demands. Voice for justice will be raised with more strength." Several protesting Congressmen vented their ire against the Yogi Adityanath government's 'high-handed' approach.
"This is a government which unleashes terror. It commits atrocities and does not even allow to people wipe the tears of the poor," Akhilesh Singh told a national news agency.
Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav was detained by the police from outside his residence in Lucknow where he staged a sit-in after being stopped from visiting the Lakhimpur Kheri district.
"Even the British did not commit such atrocities as much as the BJP government is doing on the farmers. The Minister of State for Home and the Deputy Chief Minister should resign. ₹ 2 crore should be given to the farmers who have lost their lives. Their families should be given government jobs," Yadav said.
Security was heightened outside his Vikramaditya Marg home and police trucks were placed to block the road and restrict any movement, following which he sat on protest with party leaders Ram Gopal Yadav, Anand Bhadauria and others. Hundreds of party workers also gathered outside the house, and a heavy police force was deployed in the area.
"The government does not want political leaders to go there. What is the government hiding?"
Demanding a judicial probe in the violence, BSP supremo Mayawati said her party's national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra was stopped in Lucknow to prevent him from reaching Lakhimpur.
In an escalating confrontation with the Yogi Adityanath government, Priyanka had a face-off with police personnel early on Monday morning after she was stopped from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri. She was detained late on Sunday night on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the farmers who were killed.
Several Opposition leaders from various parties were scheduled to visit the district on Monday.
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister SS Randhawa were not allowed to land in Lucknow, Congress sources said.
The latter and other Congress leaders were detained by UP police in Saharanpur while they were on their way to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet families of farmers who lost their lives in violence.
Baghel took to Twitter on Monday and posted in Hindi: "The government of Uttar Pradesh is issuing a decree not to allow me to come to the state. Have civil rights been suspended in Uttar Pradesh? If Section 144 is in Lakhimpur, then why is the government stopping you from landing in Lucknow?" Dubbing the Yogi Adityanath-led administration 'dictatorial', Baghel had also wondered if people now 'needed a visa to visit UP'.
Punjab Congress leader Navjot Sidhu was also detained after he led a protest in Chandigarh while Charanjit Channi was denied visit too.