Team News Riveting
Lucknow, October 4
It can only be called the political skill of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath that a hyper sensitive issue in Lakhimpur Kheri can be defused within 24 hours.
The horrific incident that had left eight persons dead has political significance as it took place amidst farmers’ agitation refreshing and the state of Uttar Pradesh gearing up for the assembly elections due next year.
The farmers’ bodies claimed that four farmers died as vehicles that included Union Minister of State for Home Ajay Mishra’s also, mowed the protesters down on the Tikunia-Banbirpur road. Four other deaths were reported from the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) camp. They were travelling in a car and were allegedly dragged out of the car and lynched by the protesters.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath played a big card and did not give the incident a political twist despite BJP workers were also among the victims. Instead, he put the administration and especially the police in the front to handle the situation. The strategy yielded the desired results.
A team of senior officials were rushed to the spot on the Sunday night itself to speak to the protesting farmers. State’s additional director general (law and order) Prashant Kumar led the talks and was assisted by additional chief secretary Devesh Chaturvedi, Lucknow Commissioner Ranjan Kumar and IG (Lucknow) Lakshmi Singh.
On the direction of the Chief Minister, they held talks with the farmer leaders at length and promptly accepted their demands that included compensation. The farmers never had any issue with the state government.
Another tactical move was made to not block the entry of farmer leader Rakesh Tikait to Lakhimpur. While the aircraft and chopper of Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi were denied permission for landing in Lucknow, leaders like Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Akhilesh Yadav and Jayant Choudhary were blocked from going to Lakhimpur.
It was a surprising sight, literally, to see farmer leader Rakesh Tikait and ADG Prashant Kumar hold a joint press conference at around 2pm on Monday and announce the ‘compromise’ formula after which the bodies of the four dead farmers were shifted for post-mortem. It also ended the crises.
