On way to Lakhimpur Kheri, Rahul reaches guest house where Priyanka is detained

Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi has reached the PAC guest house at Sitapur where Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been kept in detention on his way to Lakhimpur Kheri which witnessed eight deaths in violence during a farmersrsquo protest on SundayGandhi left for Lakhimpur Kheri from the Lucknow airport in his own vehicle after staging a brief dharna on initially being asked to travel in a police carHe had reached the airport this afternoon from Delhi along with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel and Congress general secretaries K C Venugopal and Randeep SurjewalaRahul Gandhiji along with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel have left for Lakhimpur Kheri from the Lucknow airport UP Congress spokesperson Ashok Singh told PTI in the afternoonVenugopal and Surjewala are also accompanying Gandhi on his visit to Lakhimpur KheriTelevision footage from the airport showed officials telling Gandhi to take the police vehicle which he did not agree to and sat on a dharna thereWe want to go in our own vehicles but they want that we should go in their vehicle I want to know why are you not allowing me to go First I was told that I can go in my own vehicle now you are saying that you will go in a police vehicle They are doing some mischiefrdquo Gandhi told reportersResponding to a question he said You can put me or Priyanka in a jail It does not have any meaning The question is that six people were crushed by criminals Those who should have been in a jail are not being put in a jail We are being stopped from meeting the aggrieved families of the farmersIt took Gandhi a couple of hours to reach the Provincial Armed Constabulary guest housein Sitapur around 88 km from Lucknow where Priyanka Gandhi is in detention since Monday morning She was on her way to meet the families of farmers killed in Sundays violence in Lakhimpur Kheri when she was stoppedEarlier in the day the state government had denied permission to Rahul Gandhi for the visit with an official spokesperson saying no one would be allowed to visit the violencehit district to vitiate its atmosphereHowever it later allowed Rahul Priyanka Gandhi and three others to visit LakhimpurPermission has been given to five leaders of Congress including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visit Lakhimpur Additional Chief Secretary Information Navneet Sehgal told PTIThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever