RASHTRIYA LOK Dal (RLD) chief Jayant Chaudhary on Wednesday targeted Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath over the Lakhimpur Kheri farmer deaths, accusing him of going slow in the case as it involves the son of Union Minister of State Ajay Mishra. He asked why has the Chief Minister gone back on his words that properties of absconding criminals will be demolished by bulldozers, and demanded the arrest of the Union minister's son Ashish Mishra, against whom an FIR has been lodged in connection with the deaths. Speaking at an event to mark the 86th birth anniversary of Bhartiya Kisan Union founder Mahendra Singh Tikait at Sisauli in Muzaffarnagar, Chaudhary said, “Why is the CM is not sticking to his words now. You had announced that properties of absconding criminals will be bulldozed. Why the silence now. Because the crime this time is committed by a man in the family?” The gathering at the event, which included BKU chief Naresh Tikait, eldest son of Mahendra Singh Tikait, paid homage to the farmers who were mowed down by three SUVs, one of them belonging to the Union minister, at Lakhimpur Kheri on October 3. “Killing of innocent farmers by the Union minister's son was the gravest sin for which the minister should resign and his son should immediately be arrested,” the RLD chief said. He said the the decision of the Yogi government to not allow Opposition leaders to visit Lakhimpur Kheri will boomerang on the BJP. “The situation will worsen further and reach a point of no return if Opposition leaders are not allowed to visit,” he said.
