Bhupesh Baghel confident of Priyanka Gandhi's leadership; 'Congress will form govt in UP'

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel on Sunday exuded confidence that under the leadership of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Congress will form the next government in Uttar Pradesh. Baghel was addressing a massive 'Kisan Nyay' rally at Varanasi, led by party's General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi in wake of the Lakhimpur violence. 

Bhupesh Baghel hit out at UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath calling him a coward for not visiting the families of the victims who died in the October 3 violence.

"I always heard Sadhu and Sant are never afraid of anyone, but Yogi Adityanath is a coward, he is scared to let a woman (Priyanka Gandhi Vadra) visit the family of the deceased in Lakhimpur Kheri. He did not allow me to go too," said Baghel.

As many as eight people including four farmers died in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident on October 3. CM Baghel had staged a protest at Lucknow airport on October 5 as he was stopped from leaving the airport. He wanted to meet Priyanka Gandhi, who was detained by the police, but he was denied entry in Lakhimpur.

The Congress has kickstarted its election campaign for the upcoming assembly polls in UP, with its first mega rally in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's constituency Varanasi. The party has dispatched its senior leaders including Priyanka Gandhi, Congress MP Deepender Singh Hooda, Salman Khurshid, Pramod Tewari, PL Punia, Vivek Bansal, and Ajay Kumar Lallu.

Addressing the rally in Varanasi, Priyanka Gandhi said that it was time to change the governance in Uttar Pradesh. Highlighting the "brutal" incidents of rape and murder in the state she said: "Whether it is Sonbhadra, Unnao, Hathras, all the victims demanded justice but there is no hope from the government."

Lakhimpur case: Updates

Union Minister Ajay Mishra's son Ashish Mishra, who was the prime accused in the Lakhimpur Kheri incident was arrested on Saturday night, after 12 hours of interrogation by the Crime Branch of Uttar Pradesh Police. He was later sent to judicial custody till Monday. 

The Samyukta Kisan Morcha (SKM) has alleged that one of the farmers was shot dead by Ashish Mishra. He, along with 15-20 unidentified accused have been booked under sections 120B, 147, 148, 149, 279, 302 (murder), 304A, and 338 of the IPC.

Earlier, two accused identified as Luvkush and Ashish Pandey were arrested in connection with the incident.