Karnataka Congress stages protest in Bengaluru over FIR against Rahul Gandhi, Shivakumar condemns action
Bengaluru: The Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) on Wednesday staged a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru against the alleged “malicious” FIR registered against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand.
The protest was led by KPCC President B.K. Hariprasad.
Former Chief Minister and Congress Working Committee member Siddaramaiah, All India Congress Committee (AICC) Secretary Gopinath Palaniappan, KPCC Campaign Committee President Vinay Kumar Sorake, Ministers, legislators and other Congress leaders participated in the protest.
Addressing the gathering, Karnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the Congress would not be intimidated by threats or imprisonment and asserted that the party would continue to raise its voice for Constitutional rights.
“We (Congress) are not afraid of jail. We are ready to face the threats. You cannot stop our voices from being raised. It is the duty of opposition parties to raise their voice for the fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution,” Shivakumar added.
“This is not the British Raj. It was the Congress party that gave the country the Constitution, brought freedom and secured the right to speak. That is what our leaders are doing. There are hundreds of leaders ready to face all this. Mr. Kharge and Rahul Gandhi will face it,” he said.
Shivakumar also condemned the action against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, describing it as a serious insult to the social fabric of the country.
“This is a great insult to the social fabric of the country. This should not have happened. I think they should immediately withdraw it. They should apologise to the country, not just to Kharge ji,” he said.
Karnataka Minister for Municipal Administration, H.C. Balakrishna, also hit out at the alleged action against Kharge and questioned whether the Congress should adopt a similar approach towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“What they have done with Mallikarjun Kharge… should we repeat the same with Prime Minister Modi? If they keep doing such acts, we have to do the same,” Balakrishna said.
The Congress leaders accused the authorities of targeting senior opposition leaders and said the party would continue to protest against what it described as attempts to suppress dissent and undermine Constitutional rights.