BKU's Tikait asks BJP men to stay away from UP villages

Bharatiya Kisan Union national president Naresh Tikait has asked the Bharatiya Janata Party 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.

Addressing a kisan panchayat at the BKU headquarters in Sisoli on Sunday night, he alleged that the BJP was trying to defame the farmers' agitation by provoking violence.

He asked the BJP workers not to visit the rural areas to avoid any untoward incident.

The remarks came after eight people were killed on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and the BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by UP deputy chief minister Keshav Prasad Maurya.

Four of the dead were people in the cars, apparently a part of a convoy of the BJP workers, who had come to welcome the UP minister. They were allegedly thrashed to death. The four others were farmers, officials said.

Farmer leaders had claimed that the minister's son Ashsish Mishra was in one of the cars which they alleged knocked down some protesters who were opposing the deputy CM's visit.

However, Ajay Mishra said he and his son were not present at the spot as alleged by some farmer leaders and he has photo and video evidence to prove it.

Meanwhile, irate BKU workers staged a dharna against the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on Sunday night and blocked a road in Shamli district.

The protesters submitted a memorandum to the Shamli district magistrate demanding action against Ashsish Mishra.