Rahul Gandhi Briefly Stopped From Boarding Flight To Lucknow: Sources

Congress MP Rahul Gandhi was briefly stopped from boarding a flight to Lucknow - from where he intends to travel to Lakhimpur Kheri to visit the families of farmers who died in Sunday's violence - party sources said on Wednesday morning.

Congress sources said PNRs, or passenger name record - a digital ID to identify passengers' bookings - for Mr Gandhi and four of his colleagues, including the Chief Ministers of two party-ruled states were cancelled before the airline reversed tack and permitted all five to board the flight.

Hours earlier Mr Gandhi had addressed a press conference in Delhi, condemning what he called "a systematic attack on farmers" and pointing out "there used to be democracy in India..."

Mr Gandhi - who has been denied permission to visit Lakhimpur Kheri, or even nearby Sitapur, where his sister and Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has been "illegally detained for nearly two days - then insisted he would, nevertheless, travel to UP and Lakhimpur Kheri.