Hours after BJP lawmaker Varun Gandhi posted a video purportedly of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and sought action against culprits, the Pilbhit MP and his mom Maneka Gandhi were removed from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) National Executive Committee.
The new list of appointed members of the top BJP panel, as released by party president JP Nadda on October 7, confirmed the omission of Varun and Maneka. The 80-member panel includes names of its top brass, ranging from Prime Minister Narendra Modi to many Union ministers, several state leaders and veterans like L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi. The executive is a key deliberative body of the party which meets to discuss key issues facing the government and shapes the organisation’s agenda. The party has reportedly brushed off the omission calling such rejigs a “routine exercise” Rajya Sabha MP Subramanian Swamy, who has lately been critical of the party, was another notable ommission.
BJP MP Varun Gandhi on Thursday posted a video purportedly of the Lakhimpur Kheri incident and said the protesters cannot be silenced through murder asking for accountability for the farmers.
“The video is crystal clear. Protestors cannot be silenced through murder. There has to be accountability for the innocent blood of farmers that has been spilled and justice must be delivered before a message of arrogance and cruelty enters the minds of every farmer,” the Pilibhit MP said in a tweet.
He posted a 37-second video in which a speeding Mahindra Thar jeep is seen running over people. Two SUVs — one black and another white — was seen following the jeep while there is commotion of people shouting and crying in the video.
On Tuesday, Mr Gandhi had tweeted a rather grainy video of a black SUV ploughing through a group of peaceful protesters from behind. Four farmers had died, another four lives were lost in the subsequent violence and arson. Calling it “murder”, Varun Gandhi said the video was enough to “shake the soul”.
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Eight people were killed in the violence on Sunday. Of the eight killed, four were farmers, who were allegedly mowed down by vehicles driven by BJP workers travelling to welcome UP Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya to an event in the area. The other four were two BJP workers, a driver of Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Kumar Mishra and a journalist working for a private television channel.
