Hours after Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was stopped from visiting Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh, where eight including four farmers were killed in violence on Sunday, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Deputy Chief Minister SS Randhawa were not allowed to land in Lucknow, Congress sources said this morning in an escalating confrontation with the Yogi Adityanath government.
Senior Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained late last night on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet the families of the farmers who were killed.
Mr Baghel tweeted what he said was an order from the UP government to the Lucknow airport.
The order in Hindi said because of the law and order situation in Lakhimpur Kheri, Section 144 (banning large gatherings) had been enforced in the area and therefore the flights of the Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and the Punjab Deputy Chief Minister should not be allowed to land at Lucknow's Amausi airport.
The Congress said in a tweet that the UP government move was an insult to the people of Chhattisgarh.
The Congress had earlier tweeted a video in which Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was seen in a confrontation with the UP police while being detained on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri. The party said Ms Vadra was being taken to Sitapur Police line and urged people to gather there.
When her convoy was stopped, Ms Vadra was seen in videos telling the police agitatedly: "I am not important than the people you have killed. The government you are defending. You give me a legal warrant, a legal basis or else I will not move from here and you won't touch me."
She was also heard saying: "Warrant nikalo, order nikalo nahi toh main yahan se nahi hil rahi hoon (Produce a warrant or a legal order or else I am not moving out from here) and if you will put me in that car I will charge you with kidnapping. And the charge will not be against the police but you."
With polls in Uttar Pradesh just months away, the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and the death of eight people, including farmers, has snowballed into a major political clash.
The Congress has alleged that its leaders from other states are being stopped from visiting Lucknow.
The violence erupted on Sunday as a group of protesting farmers tried to block Union Minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya from visiting the area.
The protesters were upset over a recent speech by Mr Mishra, the Union Minister of State for Home. Late last month, Mr Mishra had brushed off the protests against the farm laws, saying it was a protest of "10-15 people and it would take just two minutes to make them fall in line".
The farmers claimed the violence broke out after their car ran over protesters. Visuals from the area showed arson and vehicles set on fire.
A murder case has been filed against Ajay Kumar Mishra's son for allegedly running a car over the protesting farmers. Several other people have also been named in the First Information Report (FIR).
Minister Ajay Mishra has denied that his son, Ashish Mishra, was linked to the violence.
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