On Sunday, Congress leaders and workers held protests across India against the disqualification of Congress leader Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accused the government of trying to silence a “martyr’s son” for raising the voice of people. Priyanka Gandhi countered BJP’s charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs with his remark for which he has been convicted in a criminal defamation case. She asked how a leader whose family has “given its blood to nurture democracy” and who has walked thousands of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a certain community.
Several other parties condemned the action against Rahul Gandhi, and top Congress leaders Ashok Gehlot and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said the issue had brought the Opposition together, and this unity would grow as days go by. Kharge led the “Sankalp Satyagraha” protest outside Delhi’s Raj Ghat after the police refused permission to hold it at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial. He asked why the BJP was feeling hurt if fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi were being criticised.
Priyanka Gandhi staunchly defended the former Congress president and accused the BJP of insulting a martyr’s son, Mir Jafar, and insulting his mother in Parliament. She also hit out at the BJP over the allegation of dynastic politics. Congress workers in many states and union territories like Jammu and Kashmir, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Punjab, Haryana, and Gujarat took part in the protests.
Kharge thanked all opposition parties for standing with Rahul Gandhi and the Congress to save democracy. Gehlot slammed the BJP and said his party has done a lot for backward classes which include making an OBC leader like him CM thrice. Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel also comes from the OBC community, he pointed out. In Gujarat, the police detained state Congress chief Jagdish Tahor, Leader of Opposition in the Assembly Amit Chavda, and senior leader Bharatsinh Solanki along with party workers when they arrived at Lal Darwaza in Ahmedabad to protest.
