Cong holds satyagraha protests across India

New Delhi: Raising the pitch against the BJP over Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha, Congress leaders and workers held protests across the country on Sunday, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the government of "trying to silence" a "martyr's son" for raising the voice of people.

Countering BJP's charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted OBCs with his remark for which he has been convicted in a criminal defamation case, Priyanka Gandhi 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. "We have remained silent but not anymore," Priyanka said alleging that the PMN and other BJP leaders have repeatedly insulted her family members, but no cases were filed against them.

With several other parties condemning the action against Rahul Gandhi, 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, who led the "Sankalp Satyagraha" protest outside Delhi's Raj Ghat after the police refused permission to hold it at the Mahatma Gandhi memorial, asked why the BJP was feeling hurt if fugitives Nirav Modi and Lalit Modi were being criticised.

"They talk of OBC now, is Lalit Modi OBC, is Nirav Modi OBC, is Mehul Choksi OBC, they ran away with people's money. If they are fugitives why are you pained if they are criticised. "You (BJP) punish the person who works to save the country and send those abroad who loot the country," Kharge said.

Staunchly defending the former Congress president, Priyanka Gandhi said: "You have called a martyr's son anti-national, Mir Jafar, insulted his mother in Parliament. The prime minister in Parliament asks why this family does not use the 'Nehru' surname." "You insult the entire family and the tradition of Kashmiri Pandits. But there is no case against you. You don't get a case or a two-year term and no one disqualifies you. Why?" she asked. She hit out at the BJP over the allegation of dynastic politics.

"How much will you insult one person?" Priyanka Gandhi said and asked if Lord Ram, who was sent into exile, was a "parivaarwadi". "They accuse us of dynasticism. Who was Lord Ram? He was exiled and he fulfilled his responsibilities towards his family and motherland. Was Lord Ram 'parivaarwadi'? Were Pandavas 'parivaarwadi' because they fought to uphold the values of their family. Should we be ashamed that our family members sacrificed their lives for this country?" the Congress leader said.

In the national capital, the Congress put up a stage outside Mahatma Gandhi's memorial for its day-long protest programme with a hoarding having Mahatma Gandhi's image and 'Satyamev Jayate' (truth alone wins) written on it, while in Gujarat several party functionaries were detained for holding the stir. 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.

In Srinagar, scores of party activists led by former JKPCC president Ghulam Ahmad Mir protested at the party's headquarters at M A Road. The Punjab and Haryana units of Congress also observed the Satyagraha. In Congress-ruled Rajasthan, the party's state unit chief Govind Singh Dotasra, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas and several other leaders took part in the protest. In Hyderabad, Telangana Pradesh Congress Committee president A Revanth Reddy, party MPs from the state, AICC incharge of party affairs in Telangana Manikrao Thakre and several leaders took part in the dharna at Gandhi Bhavan.