Congress, Oppn to march to Vijay Chowk tomorrow in protest against Rahul Gandhi's conviction
1 min read 23 Mar 2023, 11:09 PM ISTCongress has called the Surat court's verdict 'erroneous and unsustainable' and said that the party will challenge the verdict in a higher court
PremiumCongress party announced a meeting of Opposition parties on Friday and will also organize a march to Vijay Chowk to protest against the verdict sentencing Congress MP Rahul Gandhi to two years in a defamation case. Congress media in-charge Jairam Ramesh informed that the party has asked President Droupadi Murmu for her time on Friday.
“Over 50 MPs met at Mallikarjun Kharge’s house today. Tomorrow at 10 AM he called all opposition parties’ MPs for a meeting. From 11:30 AM to 12:00 PM, opposition parties will walk to Vijay Chowk to protest. We have asked President for her time tomorrow," Ramesh said.
This comes in the backdrop of a Surat court convicting and sentencing Rahul Gandhi for two years in a 2019 defamation case for making objectionable comments against PM Modi. Congress and other Opposition parties have reacted sharply to the verdict, calling it another move to suppress voices of dissent.
For now, bail was granted to Rahul Gandhi and the sentence was suspended for 30 days to let the leader appeal in a higher court.
“This is not just a legal issue, it is also a very serious political issue, which is related to the future of our democracy. This is a great example of the Modi government's politics of vengeance, politics of threats, politics of intimidation, and politics of harassment," Jairam Ramesh told reporters.
Congress has called the Surat court's verdict "erroneous and unsustainable" and said that the party will challenge the verdict in a higher court. "We believe that this is full of errors and legally unsustainable in conclusion. But make no mistake generally...all your (government's) efforts to create a chilling effect, a throttling effect, strangulating effect on open, fearless speech relating to the public interest will not stop either Rahul Gandhi or the Congress party," Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
