Rahul Gandhi said while addressing a press conference at the AICC headquarters in the national capital,”We’re witnessing the death of democracy. What India has built brick by brick, starting almost a century ago, is being destroyed in front of your eyes. Anybody who stands against this idea of onset of dictatorship is viciously attacked, jailed, arrested & beaten up.”
Hitler had also won elections, he too used to win elections. How did he use to do it? He had control of all of Germ… https://t.co/qMP4URQdLg
— The Times Of India (@timesofindia) 1659677516000
* Gandhi said the sole agenda of the government is that people’s issues such as price rise, unemployment and violence in society must not be raised.
* He said, “Today there is no democracy in India, there is dictatorship of four people. Anybody speaking against this govt is viciously attacked, put in jail; people’s issues are not being allowed to be raised.”
* “All of you know it, all of India knows it. Anybody who stands against this idea of the onset of dictatorship, does not matter who he is, where he comes from, which state, which religion, male or female, that person is viciously attacked, put in jail, arrested, beaten up,” he said.
* The idea is that people’s issues, whether they are price rise, unemployment, violence in society, must not be raised, Gandhi said.
* He alleged that the government is being run to protect the interests of four-five people and this “dictatorship” is being run in the interest of “two-three big business people by two people”.
* Meanwhile, the Congress party is staging a massive nationwide protest today on issues of price rise and unemployment.
* Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha MPs will hold a “Chalo Rashtrapati Bhavan” from Parliament, the party said in a statement.
* The protesters, which include members of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) – the highest decision-making body of the party are expected to participate in “PM House gherao” later in the day. The party’s state units will hold similar protests across the country.
* The Delhi Police has imposed Section 144 CrPC in the entire area of the New Delhi district except for Jantar Mantar. The police said that protest/dharna/ gherao in the area of New Delhi district on August 5 cannot be permitted in view of security, law, and order, and traffic reasons.
Senior Congress leader Ajay Maken earlier this week said that they had received a letter from the DCP that they can’t protest on August 5 and the AICC (All India Congress) was turned into a Police cantonment. “The government may suppress us as much as they want but we’ll protest against inflation, unemployment, GST on edible items and go ahead with our schedule even if jailed,” he said.
Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge meanwhile sparred with Leader of the House Piyush Goyal on Thursday over ED summons issued to the Congress leaders. While Kharge accused the central government of trying to demoralise and intimidate the Opposition, Goyal responded by claiming that the government does not interfere in the functioning of law-enforcement agencies.
Earlier, the Enforcement Directorate on Wednesday sealed the Young Indian Ltd office located in the National Herald building in New Delhi as part of the ongoing money laundering investigation. The agency has already questioned Congress chief Sonia Gandhi and her son and party leader Rahul Gandhi in the case.
Mallikarjun Kharge was questioned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in a money laundering case linked to the National Herald, said Congress MP Jairam Ramesh on Thursday.
Notably, the National Herald case pertains to the alleged financial irregularities under the Prevention of Money Laundering Act (PMLA) and was registered about nine months ago after a trial court took cognizance of an Income Tax department probe carried out on the basis of a private criminal complaint filed by former Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP Subramanian Swamy in 2013.
The petitioner had approached the court alleging that the assets of Associated Journals Limited (AJL), which published the National Herald newspaper, were fraudulently acquired and transferred to Young Indian Pvt Limited (YIL) in which Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul Gandhi owned 38 per cent shares each.
(With inputs from agencies)