- Thursday, April 25, 2024
By: Shubham Ghosh
Leaders and supporters of India’s opposition Congress party on Friday (5) hit the streets to protest against the Narendra Modi government over issues such as unemployment, price rise and the Goods and Services Tax (GST) hike on essential items. Top leaders of the party, including former president Rahul Gandhi and general secretary Priyanka Gandhi were also seen joining the protesters on the streets and getting detained by the police.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit back at the Congress’s protests, accusing it of deliberately choosing the date of August 5 as it was on this day in 2020 that Modi had laid the foundation of Shri Ram Janambhoomi and the opposition party wore black black clothes to subtly promote appeasement politics.
Amit Malviya, the in-charge of the BJP’s information technology wing, even said that Rahul Gandhi tore the shirt of one of his party colleagues to show that the protest was strong and genuine.
In a tweet that showed Rahul Gandhi with Congress parliamentarian Deepender S Hooda with the former’s hand holding on to the latter’s torn shirt, Malviya said, “After Priyanka Vadra’s twist a hand moment, here is another one. Rahul Gandhi tearing his colleague Deepender Hooda’s shirt so that it made for a good protest picture and Delhi police could be blamed for high handedness. The Gandhi siblings are strong votary of tamasha politics.”
After Priyanka Vadra’s twist a hand moment, here is another one. Rahul Gandhi tearing his colleague Deepender Hooda’s shirt so that it made for a good protest picture and Delhi police could be blamed for high handedness.
The Gandhi siblings are strong votary of tamasha politics. pic.twitter.com/92WNahcXpJ
— Amit Malviya (@amitmalviya) August 6, 2022
In another picture, Vadra was seen engaged in arm-twisting with women police personnel after they tried to remove her from a protest site.
A video also made rounds showing Delhi Police personnel trying to detain Hooda during a protest and Rahul Gandhi, a parliamentarian from the southern state of Kerala, holding on to him with the protesting Congress workers raising slogans against the government.
Rahul Gandhi, meanwhile, alleged that some of his party’s parliamentarians were beaten up by the police. Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh, also a parliamentarian, said the BJP was making a desperate effort to “divert, distract, polarise and give a malicious twist” to the opposition party’s protests.
