Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other party leaders were detained in Sitapur on Monday, with the party alleging they were not allowed to meet the victims of the violence that erupted during a farmers' protest in Lakhimpur Kheri a day earlier. Stopping them in such a way is "undemocratic", Congress state President Ajay Kumar Lallu told PTI.

Eight people were killed on Sunday as violence erupted during a farmers' protest, claiming the lives of both farmers and BJP workers ahead of a visit to Lakhimpur by Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Keshav Prasad Maurya. "Priyanka Gandhi, Deepender Singh Hooda and other leaders were detained in Sitapur around 5 am," Lallu said.

The Congress leaders had to take alternative routes to reach the bordering Hargaon area in Sitapur as heavy security was deployed on the main roads amid tension in the violence-hit region of Lakhimpur. "We are waiting outside Lakhimpur Kheri. We have been prevented by the police from entering. We have come here to meet the victims of the violence," Congress national secretary Dheeraj Gurjar told .