Ranchi, Aug 31 (PTI) The Jharkhand Congress on Monday took out a protest march here, taking exception to the registration of an FIR against Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand, and asserted that it was a conspiracy to suppress the voice of democracy.
Congress leaders and workers, led by its state president Keshav Mahto Kamlesh, took out the procession from the Congress Bhawan here and it culminated at the Albert Ekka Chowk, where they also burnt effigies of the central government.
“The FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi is the result of the BJP’s political desperation and a conspiracy to suppress the voice of democracy. He has been consistently raising his voice for the rights of the poor, Dalits, tribals, the marginalised and the common people. That is why the BJP is targeting him,” Kamlesh alleged.
He asserted that the BJP should harbour no illusion that it can silence Gandhi through FIRs and government pressure.
“The country’s farmers, youth, students and crores of Congress workers stand with him,” Kamlesh said.
The FIR was registered against Gandhi on the complaint of a member of the Valmiki community in Uttarakhand’s Haldwani, who alleged that the Congress leader gave a casteist spin to a religious ritual held at the venue of party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s programme.
A political row erupted after some individuals allegedly performed a ‘purification yajna’ at the Ramlila Ground in Haldwani on August 11, after Kharge held a public meeting there on August 8. PTI SAN RBT
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