Day 2 of Congress protest over Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification: 10 Points

Mangalore Today News Network / NDTV

New Delhi, Mar 27, 2023: Congress protests across the country against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from the Lok Sabha as MP enters Day 2 as party president Mallikarjun Kharge and leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accuse the government of "trying to silence" a "martyr’s son".

 

1) Congress-led Opposition parties held a strategy meeting today and participated in a "black" protest against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification as an MP. In a rare show of Opposition unity, even the Trinamool Congress (TMC) joined the meeting.

2) K Chandrasekhar Rao’s Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), a rival of the Congress in Telangana, also joined the "black shirt" protest along with the Shiv Sena (Uddhav Balasaheb Thackeray).

3) Yesterday, the Congress put up a stage outside Mahatma Gandhi’s memorial for its day-long protest after being denied permission by the police to protest at the memorial.

4) Opposition MPs wore black clothes to the House in protest in what will be the first sitting of the Lok Sabha since Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification on Friday.

5) In total, 17 opposition parties -- INC, DMK, SP, JDU, BRS, CPM, RJD, NCP, CPI, IUML, MDMK, KC, TMC, RSP, AAP, J&K NC, and Shiv Sena (UBT) -- attended the meeting.

6) Indian Youth Congress members protested at Jantar Mantar. The protesters from across the country gathered at the venue to show solidarity with Mr Gandhi and criticised the central government for "silencing" voices of the democratic opposition.

7) The BJP, however, accuses the Congress of protesting against the Consitution and the law under which Rahul Gandhi was convicted.

8) Outside Delhi, Congress workers in Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan, Telangana, Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Haryana and Gujarat also took part in the protests.

9) Lawmakers belonging to the opposition DMK and the Congress staged a walkout in the Puducherry Assembly today protesting against Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification.

10) Rahul Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail in a criminal defamation case filed by a BJP leader in Gujarat for asking if those who have ’Modi’ as surname were thieves.