NEW DELHI: Top Congress leaders on Monday met President Ram Nath Kovind and raised the issue of alleged ill-treatment of party MPs by police during their protest against the ED questioning of Rahul Gandhi and also sought the withdrawal of the Agnipath scheme.
The Congress delegation comprised Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge, Leader of the Congress in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Chhattisgarh CM Bhupesh Baghel, and senior leaders P Chidambaram, Jairam Ramesh and K C Venugopal.
The delegation submitted a set of two memorandums to the President. One of the memorandums mentioned that the Agnipath scheme had created immense distress among youth and deep disquiet among serving and retired defence personnel. “We have urged the government through President of India to withdraw the scheme and hold wide consultation in the Parliament, the parliamentary committees and other stakeholders,” Kharge said.
The second memorandum was submitted against the police excesses committed against some Congress MPs during the protest against the ED questioning. “We have urged to the President to cause a probe into the police atrocities by the Parliamentary Privilege Committee,” said Chidambaram. The Congress leaders also took out a solidarity march from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk after staging a ‘satyagraha’ near Jantar Mantar.
Sonia discharged from hospital, advised rest
Congress president Sonia Gandhi, undergoing Covid-related treatment, was discharged from hospital on Monday. She had been rushed to the hospital with nose bleed and other compli-cations following Covid-19. It remains to be seen if she joins the ED probe on June 23 or not as she has been advised rest a home.