In protest against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as Lok Sabha MP, the Congress party began to observe a day-long 'Satyagraha' on Sunday across the nation. Priyanka Gandhi arrived at Raj Ghat for the protest on Sunday. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, party general secretary K.C Venugopal and several other party leaders also joined the protest.
The Satyagraha will be held in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statutes at all states and district headquarters from 10 am to 5 pm.
Meanwhile the Delhi police on Sunday denied the permission to hold protest at Raj Ghat.
"Your information regarding sit on a Satyagrah...has been considered and rejected due to law and order and Traffic reasons and section 144 Cr.P.C has been imposed in and around Rajghat and any kind of congregation more than 05 persons would be illegal," read the order by Deputy Commissioner of Police, Delhi.
After silencing our voice in Parliament, the govt has refused to let us hold a peaceful Satyagraha at Bapu’s samadhi as well.
— K C Venugopal (@kcvenugopalmp) March 26, 2023
It has become a habit for the Modi govt to disallow every opposition protest. This will not deter us, our fight for truth, against tyranny goes on. pic.twitter.com/49KYRq8NCj
Congress general secretary K.C Venugopal tweeted that it has become a habit of Modi government to disallow every opposition protest.
The Congress alleged that Rahul's conviction and disqualification was done in reaction to his consistent questioning of the relationship between PM Modi and Adani.
In his first response after the disqualification, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday said that he was disqualified because Prime Minister Narendra Modi is scared of his next speech on Adani. He also added that he was not afraid of speaking the truth and would continue to raise questions.
While addressing a press conference in Delhi, he said that "My name is not Savarkar, my name is Gandhi...I do not apologise."
Also, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi updated his Twitter account bio to Dis'Qualified MP.
Row over Savarkar remarks
Maharastra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said that Rahul Gandhi is "deliberately insulting" V.D. Savarkar which was "unfortunate". He also alleged that the Uddhav Thackeray faction of the Shiv Sena is supporting the Congress leader.
"Rahul Gandhi has been convicted and stands automatically disqualified as a member of Lok Sabha. But he continues to insult V. D. Savarkar by saying that he is not Savarkar to apologise. Who does he think he is? He must be punished," said Shinde.
"I publicly condemn Rahul Gandhi for deliberately insulting Savarkar and PM Modi. People will not let Rahul Gandhi move on the streets," he said.
"When Rahul Gandhi said 'chowkidar chor hai' in the last elections, people defeated him. He insulted the country by targeting PM Modi and Indian democracy in the country and abroad. During his 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', he was speaking of 'Bharat todo' (break the country)," Shinde said.
Nationwide protests
Protests were held nationwide including Wayanad, Maharastra, Delhi, and Bengal against the disqualification. Congress had said that millions of people irrespective of their political affiliation will him in the fight for truth and justice.
Congress staged protests in different parts of Raj cities including Jaipur, Ajmer and Kota.
In Ajmer, Congress workers led by Vijay Jain burnt the effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. While in Jaipur, youth workers blocked Jaipur-Ajmer Highway near a 200-foot bypass while protesting against the Central government.
The protests also caused traffic jams in different parts of the highway.
After the Surat court convicted Rahul Gandhi over the 'Modi surname' remarks, he was disqualified as a member of the Lok Sabha.
(With PTI inputs)
