Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday demanded that Union minister Ajay Mishra be removed from his post over the Lakhimpur Kheri violence and said it is time for Prime Minister Narendra Modi to apologise once again.

His remarks came after the Special Investigation Team (SIT) probing the violence, which claimed eight lives including that of four farmers, urged the chief judicial magistrate to replace lesser charges in the case like causing death by negligence with attempt to murder, saying that it was a "pre-planned conspiracy causing death".