The proceedings of Lok Sabha were disrupted on Thursday as the Opposition demanded the suspension of MoS Home Ajay Mishra.
“The murder that has happened in Lakhimpur Kheri, in which a Minister is involved… where it is said it is a conspiracy… We should be allowed to speak on it. The minister involved should resign,” Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said.
The first adjournment in the Lok Sabha came within the first few minutes of the meeting on Thursday morning as the Opposition insisted on the sacking of the MoS Home and a discussion on the Lakhimpur Kheri incident.
During Question Hour, Speaker Om Birla called Congress leader Rahul Gandhi to ask the question listed against his name. Rahul Gandhi rather spoke on the Lakhimpur Kheri issue and demanded the sacking of the Minister of State over his son Ashish Mishra’s involvement in the death of eight people including four farmers.
The Speaker insisted that he ask the question that is listed. Rahul Gandhi, however, continued to raise the Lakhimpur issue. “He (Minister) should be punished,” he said. The parliamentary disruption occurred a day after the Uttar Pradesh Police described the October 3 incident as a “pre-planned conspiracy”.
Parliamentary Affairs Minister Pralhad Joshi said Congress members were in the Well while Rahul Gandhi wanted to ask a question and said the members should go back to their seats. The Opposition members firmly persisted in their demands as they accused the ruling party of muting their mikes and muffling their voices in an unparliamentary manner, forcing them to come to the Well.
Several members were standing near the Speaker’s podium holding placards demanding the sacking of Minister Ajay Mishra.
Om Birla reacted by saying that lifting placards and trooping into the Well were against rules. He said he would allow the Opposition to raise any issue they want after the Question Hour. “What message do you want to give? Bringing placards and raising slogans is not a good tradition for Parliament. You have been elected to raise issues, and you are bringing placards… this is wrong,” the Speaker said.
He then adjourned the House till 2 pm. When the House met again, the situation was the same. As Opposition members persisted in their demand for the Minister to be sacked, the House was adjourned for the day.
Of note, the Opposition has been demanding to sack the Minister since the incident took place on October 3, in which four farmers and a journalist were killed after being run over by SUVs from the Minister’s convoy. Three people from the Minister’s convoy were also killed. An SIT report after investigations has revealed that it was a deliberate act of murder and not of negligence. Ajay Mishra’s son Ashish is one of the accused who have been arrested.
Lakhimpur Kheri violence was a vehicle-ramming attack and mob lynching attack that took place during the farmers’ protest against the three farm laws passed by the Bharatiya Janata Party-led Union Government. It transpired on 3 October 2021, at Banbirpur Village near Tikunia in Lakhimpur Kheri district, Uttar Pradesh, India, resulting in deaths of eight people and injuries to ten others. Four protesting farmers and a journalist were run over by a speeding Mahindra Thar, an SUV, and three others were lynched by protestors in the subsequent violence.