lucknow: In a  climbdown, the  Yogi Adityanath government in Uttar Pradesh on Wednesday allowed Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra to visit Lakhimpur Kheri, the site of violence on Sunday that left nine people dead.

Priyanka had been taken into custody and was taken to Sitapur on Monday after she was stopped while attempting to travel to Lakhimpur Kheri to meet kin of farmers killed in violence on Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Lucknow Police had said Rahul would be requested not to visit Lakhimpur Kheri and Sitapur on the grounds of fears about law and order.

Media reports said Rahul Gandhi had been permitted to travel to Sitapur with three more people. Rahul had left from Delhi to Lucknow with Punjab Chief Minister Charanjit Singh Channi, Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel and Congress general secretary K.C. Venugopal.

News agency ANI reported the Uttar Pradesh home department had informed the government had given permission to Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi and three other people to visit Lakhimpur Kheri.

Meanwhile, the BJP has alleged Rahul Gandhi was seeking to exploit the violence in Lakhimpur Kheri for politics. BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra told mediapersons, "Whatever has happened in Lakhimpur Kheri is sad. We have seen after that that whether it is a farmer organization, whether the administration, both interacted together; there was coordination between the two;dd both of them reached some conclusions after talking. Mainly the conclusion was that of a fair investigation."

Referring to allegations raised about the autopsy of one of the victims, Patra said, "If no one raised questions on the postmortem, then Rahul Gandhi is trying to disturb the atmosphere by spreading confusion on him even though he is not an expert. The Gandhi family has nothing to do with farmers."