Jagjit Singh Dallewal, a farmer leader, is on an indefinite hunger strike that has entered its 34th day. The Supreme Court has criticized the Punjab government for not shifting Dallewal to a hospital, while farmer leaders have said they are following Gandhian principles and it is up to the government to decide whether to use force to evict him. The farmers are protesting for several demands, including a legal guarantee for a minimum support price (MSP) for crops. The protests have reached a decisive stage, with the SKM (Non-Political) and Kisan Mazdoor Morcha calling for a Punjab bandh on Monday.
An application has been filed by advocates Shiv Kumar Tripathi and CS Panda in the suo motu case registered on a letter petition sought setting aside of the order dated February 10 of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court.
His blood sample has been sent for the confirmation of dengue infection.
Bhartiya Kisan Union (BKU) leader Rakesh Tikait exhorted farmers to be ready for a massive nationwide agitation over their demands as a 75-hour sit-in by the Samyukta Kisan Morcha in Lakhimpur Kheri seeking the removal of Union minister Ajay Kumar Mishra and a law on minimum support price (MSP) entered the second day on Tuesday.
They posed as tourists on being stopped by police, claimed the MPs of the Mamata Banerjee-led party.
The delegation demands the immediate dismissal of Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Bhartiya Kisan Union national president Naresh Tikait has asked BJP workers not to visit the rural areas of Uttar Pradesh, saying farmers are angry over the violence that broke out in Lakhimpur Kheri on Sunday.
A noted Durga Puja pandal in Kolkata this year will depict the agitation over the farm laws in the country, besides the killing of farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri in Uttar Pradesh.
Tikait said the minister's son was seen by many people at the spot on the fateful day.
The Uttar Pradesh authorities on Tuesday agreed to the demand for a second post-mortem of a farmer killed in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident after his family refused to cremate him, while mortal remains of the three others were consigned to flames at their native places during the day.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra Wednesday met the family members of farmers killed in the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri and promised them all assistance.
Senior party leader P Chidambaram, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut expressed support to Priyanka, who has alleged that no notice or first information report (FIR) has been given to her even after her 38-hour detention and was not allowed to meet her legal counsel.
The additional sessions judge said there are 208 prosecution witnesses, 171 documents and 27 forensic science laboratory (FSL) reports in the case.
Led by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, the Opposition members in the Lok Sabha demanded sacking of Union minister Ajay Mishra from the government in connection with the Lakhimpur Kheri violence.
Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra along with others accused in the case were also sent into judicial custody from police custody on Monday, the officials said.
Dominic Xavier offers his take on the bandh called across Maharashtra by the state government to protest the killing of farmers in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district on October 3.
Robert Vadra on Wednesday claimed that he has been stopped from going to Lucknow to meet his wife and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who has been detained in Sitapur while on her way to meet victims of violence in Lakhimpur Kheri.
"We should deal with farmers with great restraint and patience. In any case, we should treat our farmers with sensitivity and only in Gandhian and democratic way within the ambit of law," Varun gandhi told UP CM in a letter.
The Supreme Court on Monday suggested that a former high court judge monitor the ongoing probe by the Uttar Pradesh police into the October 3 Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people, including four farmers, were killed in violence during a farmers' protest, saying the investigation was not going the way it expected.
Ashish Mishra had moved the Lucknow bench of the high court on Friday seeking insertion of Sections 302 (murder) and 120 B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code that were 'inadvertently' not mentioned in the high court order as the jail authorities would not release him due to the omission.
Union minister of state for home Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra, arrested for his alleged role in the Lakhimpur Kheri violence, was on Friday remanded in police custody for two days.
NCP supremo Sharad Pawar warned the BJP on Tuesday that it will have to pay a heavy price for the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and asserted that the entire opposition is with the farmers.
Chaudhary, who took 13 hours to reach Lakhimpur Kheri from Delhi, several hours more than it would take to cover the 420 km-odd distance, also met the families of some of the farmer victims to learn their story of loss.
It has assured that details of those giving information will not be revealed besides informers will be given due rewards.
They alleged that while the two main political parties in the state -- the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Samajwadi Party -- have 'cheated' them, the other parties are 'ineffective'.
There is "dictatorship" in India now with politicians not being allowed to visit Uttar Pradesh to meet the families of the victims of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident, Rahul said.
Parliament was adjourned for the day on Wednesday due to uproar by the Opposition members over Lakhimpur Kheri killings in Lok Sabha and the suspension of 12 members in Rajya Sabha.
Congress leader Lalan Kumar said she talked to the kin of farmers Lavpreet Singh, Nakshatra Singh and journalist Rajast Kahsyap, extending her condolences.
The stalemate between the opposition and the government over the issue of suspension of 12 MPs continues.
The Special Investigation Team investigating the Lakhimpur violence case has filed a chargesheet on Monday in which one accused was added taking the tally of arrested accused to 14.
An official said the SIT will examine if the money was used on any illegal activities, like terrorism or forcible religious conversion.
This was Channi's first meeting with Shah after becoming the chief minister of the state.
A division bench of Justice Ramesh Sinha and Justice Renu Agarwal had on November 9 completed the hearing and reserved the verdict.
Bracing for another agitation by farmers, police are fortifying the Delhi-Uttar Pradesh and Delhi-Haryana borders with barricades and deploying more than 5,000 security personnel, a senior police officer said here on Friday.
The Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance (INDIA) gave a huge blow to the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance by winning 43 seats out of total 80 Lok Sabha seats of Uttar Pradesh, as per the Election Commission.
The stalemate between the opposition and the government over the issue of suspension of 12 MPs continues.
Khattar talked about "tit for tat" during a meeting of the BJP's Kisan Morcha in Chandigarh when he told the gathering to form groups of 500 to 1,000 and be prepared to even go to jail.
Expressing displeasure over a tweet posted by a media organisation which falsely claimed that Chief Justice of India N V Ramana had met the kin of victims of Lakhmipur Kheri violence, the Supreme Court on Friday said it respects the media and their independence but this is 'not at all fair.'
The Supreme Court on Friday said a plea filed by Union minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra seeking bail in a case related to Lakhimpur Kheri violence should be placed before a bench comprising judges who had earlier dealt with the matter.
The Supreme Court has taken cognisance of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident in which eight people were killed in violence during a farmers' protest, with a bench headed by Chief Justice of India N V Ramana scheduled to hear the matter on Thursday.
