NEW DELHI: Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led a strong nationwide protest from the front against price rise, GST on essential items and unemployment, with the latter catching the eye as she climbed over barricades and sat on the road outside the AICC office. Both were among the 300-plus who were detained by the police for over six hours.
Rahul set the ball rolling by tearing into the government, saying the country is witnessing “death of democracy”.
“The government wants that people’s issues should not be raised and is working for the benefit of 4-5 big businessmen. All institutions in the country are under the control of the BJP and RSS. Despite all this, the Opposition is making efforts to fight against the government,” he said.
Dressed in black as a mark of protest, Congress MPs marched towards Rashtrapati Bhavan from Parliament House.
They were stopped at Vijay Chowk by the police in view of the security protocol. The leaders, then, sat in protest at Vijay Chowk.
Priyanka and other senior leaders, including Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot, were stopped outside Congress headquarters at 24, Akbar Road while they were marching towards the Prime Minister’s residence. After Priyanka squatted on the road, she was pulled into the police van and detained along with others.
“The government thinks it can silence us. It thinks that by showing us this force, it can make us quietly sit in buses but we have a purpose,” Priyanka told reporters. The detained leaders were taken to Kingsway Camp in GTB Nagar and were later released. The area around the Congress HQ was cordoned off since Wednesday and a large police force deployed.
"Congress MPs have just been released after being detained for almost 6 hours for protesting peacefully and democratically against price rise, unemployment and GST," Ramesh, who had also been detained, tweeted.
Congress has opposed the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike on essential items.
In a statement, the Delhi Police said a total 335 protesters, including 65 MPs, had been detained under the Delhi Police Act in order to "maintain law and order" in the area.
Intimation about the detention of MPs/MLAs is being sent to the respective competent authorities, the police said.
The protesters were appropriately warned about the prohibitory orders in force in the area and repeatedly requested to disperse from the area, the police said.
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However, they continued the protest, thereby violating prohibitory orders under section 144 CrPC, it said.
"When the police personnel moved in to contain the situation, the protestors tried to obstruct the police officers from performing their duties, manhandled and injured them. Appropriate legal action is being taken into the matter," the police said.
While several BJP leaders called the protests an attempt to save the Gandhi family, Home Minister Amit Shah linked the protest in black clothes to the party's "appeasement" politics to convey its opposition to the Ram temple foundation laying by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on this day in 2020.
Shah said Congress was using the issues like ED action and price rise only as excuses.
Congress hit back saying only a sick mind which can produce such bogus arguments and give a malicious twist to the protests.
"Home Minister has made a desperate attempt to divert, distract, polarise and give a malicious twist to today's democratic protests of @INCIndia against price rise, unemployment & GST. It's only a sick mind which can produce such bogus arguments. Clearly, the protests have hit home!" party general secretary Jairam Ramesh tweeted.
The Congress workers and leaders were released by Delhi Police after more than six hours of detention in various police stations, where they were taken away from the protest sites in the national capital.
According to Delhi Police, 335 protestors including 65 MPs were detained.
Similar actions happened in various parts of the country, while water canons were also used at some places including in Chandigarh.
While Congress leaders in Delhi had planned to gherao the prime minister's residence and a protest march to Rashtrapati Bhavan, party workers across the country staged protests and dharnas outside Raj Bhavans.
The protesting MPs raised the issue in both houses of Parliament and disrupted the proceedings.
They then gathered outside gate number 1 of Parliament House and raised slogans against the government demanding that the GST hike on essential items be withdrawn.
Party chief Sonia Gandhi also joined women MPs holding a banner there.
The day started with Rahul Gandhi addressing a press conference, alleging that India is witnessing the "death of democracy" and anybody who raises people's issues and stands against the onset of dictatorship is "viciously attacked", beaten up and put in jail.
Noting that the Gandhi family is attacked because it fights for democracy and for communal harmony, he alleged the sole agenda of the government is that people's issues such as price rise, unemployment and violence in society must not be raised.
"There is no democracy in India and there is a dictatorship of four people, he alleged, without taking any names.
"What we are witnessing is the death of democracy. That is what India is witnessing. What India has built brick by brick, starting almost a century ago, is basically being destroyed in front of your eyes," said Gandhi.
"Democracy is now a memory in India and nothing more. There are going to be consequences of this because people of India will not be quiet about that," he also said.
Noting that he will continue to raise people's issues, he said, "I get great joy when political people attack me. I get happiness."
"No institution is independent and they are in control of the RSS, which has installed its people there.
We are fighting against the entire infrastructure," he said, alleging institutions throw their weight against anyone speaking against government.
"There is financial monopoly and institutional monopoly, that is why the opposition is not effective," he said.
On BJP's claim that they have been winning elections, he said, "Hitler also used to win elections.
He had the entire institutional structure with him.
Give me the power on the institutions and I will show you how elections are won."
Those detained included K C Venugopal, Mallikarjun Kharge, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, P Chidambaram, Ramesh and Shashi Tharoor.
Gandhi also alleged that some of the party MPs were even "beaten up" by police.
Also dressed in black, Priyanka Gandhi staged a sit-in protest outside the AICC headquarters here.
She jumped across the police barricades put up on the road outside the party headquarters and squatted on the road, with the police personnel asking her to move from there.
In a video shot inside a police vehicle and shared by Congress with reporters, she said, They think that by putting up a show of power, they can silence us and force us into a compromise.
Why will we do that?" "Their ministers cannot see the price rise, so we wanted to walk to the prime minister's house and show him the high inflation, show him the gas cylinder the price of which is sky high," she said.
Ever since the Congress president announced the Kanyakumari-to-Kashmir "Bharat Jodo Yatra" around three months ago, "Dhamki-jeevi" has intensified his "toxic politics of vendetta" and intimidation against the Congress and its leadership, Ramesh said, adding that "it is not a coincidence".
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Friday asked Congress to apologise to the nation for "insulting" Ram devotees by staging protests in black clothes on the day the construction of the Ram temple began in Ayodhya two years back.
The CM linked the Congress protests with the laying of the foundation stone for the Ayodhya temple in 2020, following a landmark Supreme Court verdict on the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.
In a video message, Adityanath slammed the opposition party for holding protests in black clothes when the people of the country were observing "Ayodhya Divas".
He accused the Congress of playing with the people's "astha" (devotion) towards Lord Ram.
"The Congress had been staging protests in normal clothes for some days but holding a protest wearing black clothes today, when the country is observing Ayodhya Divas, is highly condemnable," Adityanath said.
"It's an insult to the Ram bhakts and also the verdict of the highest court," he said.
In Delhi, Union Home Minister had similarly linked the Congress protests on Friday with the Ram temple construction.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone of the Ram temple in Ayodhya on August 5, 2020.
Adityanath said crores of people are observing "Ayodhya Divas" and the Congress has again played with their sentiments.
"The Congress shall tender an apology to the nation for this condemnable act," he said.
Wearing black, Congress leaders hit the streets on Friday to protest against price rise and unemployment.
Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were among those detained by police in the national capital.
Protests were also held in several other states.
Standing for democracy
“The more I raise people’s issues, the more I will be under attack from the government but I will continue to stand for democracy,” Rahul Gandhi told the media.
(With PTI Inputs)