Union Minister Ajay Mishra Teni casts his vote at a polling booth surrounded by police and paramilitary personnel at a polling booth in Uttar Pradesh’s Lakhimpur on Wednesday. When reporters questioned about his son Ashish Mishra, accused of crushing farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri last year, the minister showed a “V” (for victory) sign.
Ashish Mishra, who was jailed in October, was released on bail a week ago, right in the middle of the Uttar Pradesh election campaign. The purported video on social media showed Mishra, whose vote falls in the Nighasan assembly constituency, on his way to the polling booth at around 11.30 am, accompanied by an unusually large number of security personnel.
After casting his vote, the security personnel took him to the security cordon. Journalists tried to get in touch with him, but he could not be reached. Surrounded by security personnel, the Union Minister was seen raising both his hands and showing a sign of victory, while journalists raised questions amid the uproar over his son and the Lakhimpur Kheri case.
There was enthusiasm among his supporters as he reached to cast his vote. At the same time, his opponents have once again started questioning the retention of Ajay Mishra Teni in the Union Cabinet.
Ashish Mishra was arrested in October, days after he allegedly crushed protesting farmers with his SUV in Lakhimpur Kheri. The farmers were protesting the minister’s visit at an event when the convoy collided with them. The SUV was seen trampling and crushing farmers in the video, sparking outrage. Both Ashish Mishra and his father have denied driving the SUV.
Four farmers and a journalist died in the accident. In the violence that followed, the protesters chased and thrashed the people in the BJP convoy. Three more people, including two BJP workers, died.
Lakhimpur district comprises eight assembly constituencies – Nighasan, which includes Tikunia village where the violence took place, Palliya Kalan, Gola Gokarnath, Dhurahara, Mohammadi, Srinagar, Lakhimpur Sadar and Kasta.
In 2017, the BJP had won all the eight assemblies. The bloodshed in Tikunia a few months before the elections had raised doubts about the BJP being able to repeat the successes.
Lakhimpur is primarily an agricultural area, mainly producing sugarcane and mustard, and there are also several sugar mills in the surrounding area. Trucks and tractors laden with sugarcane can be seen in long queues outside sugarcane crushing plants and mills at all times.
BJP has once again fielded sitting MLA Shashank Verma from Nighasan seat, while Samajwadi Party, which has an alliance with RLD, has given ticket to RS Kushwaha. The latter is a former state chief of the BSP who won the seat in 2002.
The Bahujan Samaj Party has fielded RA Usmani, who had left the SP after not getting a ticket. Meanwhile, Congress has fielded Atal Shukla.
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