Opposition holds protest march after Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification from Lok Sabha; seeks JPC probe into Adani issue

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and along with MPs of other like-minded opposition parties holds a “Democracy in Danger” banner before a protest march towards Rashtrapati Bhawan, at Parliament House complex in New Delhi.
| Photo Credit: PTI

Minutes after orders disqualifying Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha were issued, the Opposition parties came together for a protest march from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk, alleging that “democracy is in danger” and reiterating their demand for a probe by the Joint Parliamentary Committee into the Adani issue.

Members of Parliament from the DMK, the CPI, the CPI(M), the Shiv Sena (Udhav Thackeray), the JD(U) and the AAP were seen in the march.

The parliamentarians were not allowed to proceed any further from Vijay Chowk and the Delhi Police detained many leaders quoting the imposition of Section 144, which prohibits large assembly of people. Many MPs were taken by the Delhi Police to Kingsway camp in North Delhi, where they continued with their protest.

Speaking to reporters Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, “We are fighting for JPC into the Adani issue for months. They have a majority but the BJP is scared as there is something fishy. We’ll keep fighting unitedly for it.” 

He also hit out at BJP chief J.P. Nadda over his allegation on Rahul Gandhi compared OBC communities to thieves and accused the BJP of indulging in “caste politics”.

AAP’s Sanjay Singh said Mr. Gandhi’s conviction shows that the government wanted to finish off the Opposition by slapping cases on them.