Uma Bharti questions Priyanka Gandhi’s right to speak about farmers

Bhopal, Oct 05: Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti today said Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and others in her party do not have the right to speak about farmers and democracy, the comments coming in the backdrop of recent violence in Uttar Pradesh's Lakhimpur Kheri district, PTI reported.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra was detained in Sitapur (Uttar Pradesh) on Monday on her way to Lakhimpur Kheri, where eight people died and several others were injured on Sunday in the bloodiest clash since the farmers' protest over the Centre's farm laws began last year.

On Tuesday, the Congress general secretary took to Twitter to ask Prime Minister Narendra Modi why the person behind the killing of four farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri has not been arrested yet while she has been under "detention for the past 28 hours" without any order or FIR.

Later, Uma Bharti in a series of tweets in Hindi said, "Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Mrs Vadra and other Congress leaders do not have the right to speak on issues over which they are speaking,"

The senior BJP leader claimed that agriculture and farmers were "left behind" because immediately after independence, (Mahatma) Gandhi-ji's dream of considering agriculture as the country's main economic base was "destroyed" by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"The Congress, which imposed Emergency in the country, has lost the right to pronounce the word democracy...Congress leaders and workers burnt 10,000 Sikhs alive. So, the word non-violence doesn't suit the Congress," she further claimed.

Uma Bharti said her suggestion to Congress leaders is to have a positive attitude and cooperate with the (central) government to solve the problems of farmers.

Earlier in the day, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra shared a video on Twitter, which showed a group of protesting farmers allegedly being run over by an SUV.

"@narendramodi ji your government has detained me for the past 28 hours without any order or FIR. Why the person who ran over farmers has not been arrested yet?" she said in a tweet in Hindi.

(PTI)