Raising the pitch towards the Bharatiya Janata Party over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha, Congress leaders and staff held protests throughout the nation on Sunday, with occasion president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the federal government of “attempting to silence” a “martyr’s son” for elevating the voice of individuals.
IMAGE: Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, occasion leaders Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Jairam Ramesh, Okay C Venugopal and different leaders arrive at Rajghat to protest towards the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a member of Parliament. Photograph: ANI on Twitter
Countering the BJP’s cost that Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs along with his comment for which he has been convicted in a legal defamation case, Priyanka Gandhi requested how a frontrunner whose household has “given its blood to nurture democracy” and who has walked 1000’s of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity might insult the nation or a sure group.
“We have remained silent however not anymore,” she mentioned alleging that the prime minister and different BJP leaders have repeatedly insulted her relations however no circumstances have been filed towards them.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, nonetheless, slammed the Congress and requested if it was agitating towards the nation’s Constitution or the legislation underneath which Rahul Gandhi was convicted or to justify his remarks towards the complete backward group of the nation.
With a number of different events condemning the motion towards Rahul Gandhi, prime Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury mentioned the difficulty had introduced the Opposition collectively and this unity would develop as days go by.
Kharge, who led the “Sankalp Satyagraha” protest outdoors Delhi’s Raj Ghat after the police refused permission to carry it on the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, requested why the BJP was feeling harm if fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi have been being criticised.
IMAGE: Jharkhand Congress president Rajesh Thakur (third from proper) with state minister of well being and household welfare Banna Gupta (left) and others takes half within the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ in Ranchi, March 26, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo
“They speak of OBC now, is Lalit Modi OBC, is Nirav Modi OBC, is Mehul Choksi OBC, they ran away with individuals’s cash. If they’re fugitives why are you pained if they’re criticised.”
“You (BJP) punish the one who works to avoid wasting the nation and ship these overseas who loot the nation,” Kharge mentioned.
Staunchly defending the previous Congress president, Priyanka Gandhi mentioned no circumstances have been registered when her brother was referred to as Mir Jafer.
Asking if a martyred prime minister’s son can insult the nation, Priyanka Gandhi mentioned, “This is an insult to that prime minister who gave his life.”
She mentioned her household gave its blood to the nation and the Congress is able to do something to guard democracy and isn’t scared.
“You have referred to as a martyr’s son anti-national, Mir Jafar, insulted his mom in Parliament. The prime minister in Parliament asks why this household doesn’t use the ‘Nehru’ surname,” she mentioned.
“You insult the complete household and the custom of Kashmiri Pandits. But there isn’t a case towards you. You do not get a case or a two-year time period and nobody disqualifies you. Why?” she requested.
IMAGE: Maharashtra Congress president Nana Patole (fourth from proper) with occasion leaders takes half within the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ towards the disqualification of occasion chief Rahul Gandhi in Nagpur. Photograph: ANI Photo
She hit out on the BJP over the allegation of dynastic politics.
“How a lot will you insult one individual?” Priyanka Gandhi mentioned and requested if Lord Ram, who was despatched into exile, was a parivaarwadi.
“They accuse us of dynasticism. Who was Lord Ram? He was exiled and he fulfilled his tasks in direction of his household and motherland. Was Lord Ram parivaarwadi? Were Pandavas parivaarwadi as a result of they fought to uphold the values of their household. Should we be ashamed that our relations sacrificed their lives for this nation?” the Congress chief mentioned.
Priyanka Gandhi mentioned until immediately, they’ve been insulting “our household and we remained silent however not anymore”.
“Time has come and we’re not those who will remain silent anymore,” she informed the skin Rajghat.
IMAGE: Congress basic secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra addresses through the Sankalp Satyagraha towards the disqualification of occasion chief Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament, at Raj Ghat, in New Delhi. Photograph: ANI Photo
Targeting the prime minister, she mentioned, Rahul Gandhi was being attacked for asking questions on industrialist Gautam Adani, who she alleged was being protected by the complete ruling institution.
“Take me to jail however the fact is that this nation’s prime minister is a coward. He is hiding behind his energy and (he) is smug. But this nation’s custom is that individuals reply to an smug king,” she mentioned.
Priyanka Gandhi additionally urged the media to grasp their duty as “democracy is at risk”.
“If the one who questions is barred from contesting elections for eight years, it isn’t proper for the nation or its democracy. Time has come — daro mat (do not be afraid)’.
“Face them and unite and make sure the unity of the nation and take it ahead,” she asserted amid cheers from the Congress rank and file.
In the nationwide capital, the Congress put up a stage outdoors Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial for its day-long protest programme with a hoarding having Mahatma Gandhi’s picture and Satyamev Jayate (fact alone wins) written on it, whereas in Gujarat a number of occasion functionaries have been detained for holding the stir.
Congress staff in lots of states and union territories like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat took half within the protests.
Tamil Nadu Congress chief Okay S Alagiri, who led the protest in Cuddalore, mentioned there could be extra protests together with rail roko and street-corner conferences to make it a individuals’s motion.
Kharge thanked all opposition events for standing with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to avoid wasting democracy.
Gehlot slammed the BJP and mentioned his occasion has achieved rather a lot for backward lessons which embrace making an OBC chief like him CM thrice.
Alleging that in 2017, when the BJP was shedding the Gujarat elections, Modi performed the OBC card, he mentioned the BJP once more needs to run a marketing campaign to mislead OBCs.
“You are defending fugitives resembling Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi, after which saying Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs,” he mentioned.
“I’ve been made CM for the third time by Sonia ji, Rahul ji. I’m an OBC. There is just one member of the OBC Mali group (within the meeting) and that’s me,” he mentioned.
IMAGE: Former Chief Minister of Uttarakhand, Harish Rawat with Congress staff throughout a ‘Satyagraha’, in Dehradun, March 26, 2023. Photograph: ANI Photo
Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel additionally comes from the OBC group, he identified.
Meanwhile, the BJP hit out on the Congress over its ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’, alleging that it was agitating towards the nation’s Constitution and the court docket’s verdict towards Rahul Gandhi to justify his remarks towards the complete backward group of the nation.
Addressing a press convention, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi additionally dubbed the Congress agitation as an insult to Mahatma Gandhi, saying whereas the Father of the Nation had organised Satyagraha for social causes, the Congress was holding so-called Satyagraha for private causes.
The agitation has nothing to do with combating for fact, he added.
“Satyagraha for what?… Is it to justify the best way you insulted the complete backward group of the nation, or towards the court docket which sentenced you, or towards the availability underneath which you need to be disqualified, he mentioned, asking Congress to make clear.
Taking a jibe on the Congress, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath mentioned those that weaken democracy can not observe Satyagraha.
Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court docket in Gujarat’s Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will forestall Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years except a better court docket stays the conviction.
In Gujarat, the police detained state Congress chief Jagdish Tahor, Leader of Opposition within the Assembly Amit Chavda and senior chief Bharatsinh Solanki together with occasion staff after they arrived at Lal Darwaza in Ahmedabad to protest.
In Srinagar, scores of occasion activists led by former JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir protested on the occasion’s headquarters at M A Road.
The Punjab and Haryana models of Congress additionally noticed the Satyagraha. In Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the occasion’s state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and a number of other different leaders took half within the protest.
In Hyderabad, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy, occasion MPs from the state, AICC incharge of occasion affairs in Telangana Manikrao Thakre and a number of other leaders took half within the dharna at Gandhi Bhavan.
The Puducherry Pradesh Congress Committee will maintain daybreak to nightfall quick in Puducherry on Monday, former chief minister and senior Congress chief V Narayanasamy mentioned at a rally within the Union Territory.
“The prime minister tried to silence the Opposition however our protests would proceed unabated,” he mentioned.
Madhya Pradesh Youth Congress president Vikrant Bhuria was on Sunday arrested for stopping a prepare throughout a protest at Kamlapati railway station in Bhopal on Friday, a police official mentioned.
Bhuria, who’s the son of MLA and former Union minister Kantilal Bhuria, was taken away whereas a crowd of Congress supporters shouted slogans in his help.
In Ranchi, Congress leaders together with Jharkhand ministers—Rameshwar Oraon and Banna Gupta— assembled at Bapu Vatika at Morabadi floor.
Scores of occasion activists led by former JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir held the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ on the occasion headquarters at M A Road in Srinagar.
