NEW DELHI: The entire
Congress
brass hit the streets on Friday in an aggressive protest against rising prices and unemployment while demanding a rollback of GST on daily essentials.
Setting the tone with a sharp attack on the Modi government, Rahul said India is witnessing the “death of democracy” and likened the government to Hitler’s regime.
Dressed in black to protest against denial of permission to raise people’s issues in Parliament, Congress leaders, including Sonia, raised slogans and marched with Rahul and 64 MPs to
Parliament
gates. The group, sans Sonia, then walked to Vijay Chowk where they were detained while trying to march up Raisina Hill.
Another Congress contingent, led by Priyanka, attempted to march from the party offices at Akbar Road to ringfence the Prime Minister’s residence. Youth Congress workers and Priyanka squared off with Delhi Police personnel and dramatic scenes unfolded, with visuals showing Priyanka scaling barricades and scuffling with cops before being pushed by women officers into a police vehicle.
In another visual, Rahul Gandhi appeared to be resisting police personnel when they tried to forcibly to lead party MP Deepender Hooda away, prompting Congress to allege police high-handedness. “Again today, Congress MPs denied democratic right to protest against price rise, unemployment and GST. Bundled into police vans at Vijay Chowk. It’s clear, only those who are afraid try to instill fear!” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh later tweeted.
Police, however, denied the charge. Delhi Police said Congress was warned against protesting at various sites on account of prohibitory orders in place ahead of Independence Day celebrations. Police also alleged that many personnel were “obstructed from performing their duties, manhandled and injured”, charges countered by Congress functionaries, including Priyanka, who accused police of using force.
Before the protests began on Friday morning, Rahul said India, built brick by brick over the past century, was being dismantled by the current dispensation. The opposition or anyone else who dared to call this out was being systematically targeted by different institutions now under the control of BJP and RSS, he said.
“The whole of India knows it. Anybody who stands against this idea of the onset of dictatorship, doesn’t matter who he is, where he comes from, which state, which religion, male-female, he is viciously attacked, put in jail, arrested, beaten up,” the former Congress chief said.
“Hitler also came to power after winning elections. How did he win elections? He won because every institution in Germany was under his control. He had the SA paramilitary force as well as control over the entire infrastructure. You give me the entire neutral institutional framework, then I will show you how elections are won,” Rahul said at a press conference, shortly before joining Congress’ “black march” against price rise, held simultaneously from the party headquarters and Parliament, and involving party MPs and other senior leaders.
He also said he was not afraid and, in fact, drew satisfaction from being “persecuted” by the BJP-RSS for his unrelenting criticism of their ways. “The idea is that people’s issues – price rise, unemployment, violence in society – must not be raised. That is the sole agenda of the government… My job is to resist the idea of RSS and I am going to do it. The more I do it, the more I will be attacked… Democracy is now a memory in India. You will see there are going to be devastating consequences to this, because the people of India are not just going to keep quiet,” Rahul said.
