New Delhi: Stepping up its attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party-led National Democratic Alliance government at the Centre and as a mark of solidarity with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who was disqualified from the Lok Sabha, the Assam Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) held a day-long ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ on Sunday.
The APCC, led by its President Bhupen Kumar Bora, Working President Rana Goswami, Nazira MLA and Leader of Opposition in Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia, Samaguri MLA and Deputy Leader of Opposition Rakibul Hussain, Chaygaon MLA Rekibuddin Ahmed, supported by 12 other opposition parties, sat on the ‘Sankalp Satyagraha’ at Manabendra Sharma Complex at Dispur in Guwahati.
Speaking to the media, APCC chief Bhupen Kumar Bora said, “The Constitution of India supports the multi-party system. What is Rahulji's fault? Rahulji just delivered a 50-minute speech during the Parliament session where he said that Modiji and Adani looted public money.”
“Rahulji had just said that Adani, who was ranked as the 600th richest man in the world, reached the second spot within 6-8 years by looting the money of the people of the country. Rahulji gave proof on whatever he said during his speech in the Parliament as a result of which the BJP hatched a conspiracy silent him. Today we have started the Sankalp Satyagraha across the country against the BJP’s conspiracy,” he said.
“Sankalp Satyagraha means that all the opposition political parties will come together and fight against the BJP’s arbitrary intention against the Constitution. Together we will keep fighting till Rahul Gandhi gets back his MP seat,” Bora added.
He said, “Within the next one week, 12 opposition parties of Assam will hold a public meeting in Guwahati where we will raise a voice for saving the Republic India and the Constitution.”
Speaking to reports, general secretary of Akhil Gogoi-led Raijor Dal, Russell Hussain said, “We are a regional party and Congress a national party. Still we have come here to join the protest because the BJP has ruined the democracy in the name of politics.”
“Any leader, be it Manish Sisodia or Akhil Gogoi, whoever becomes a threat for the BJP, they suppress them. The success story of Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Yatra has frightened Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The remark for which Rahul Gandhi has been convicted, it took place during the 2019 Parliamentary election campaign and that was only a political rhetoric. There are many people who have been asking the same question,” he said.
“I spoke to a lot of lawyers and found that in the 70 years of India’s independence, nobody has got a two-year jail term in a defamation case. They did this as they wanted to somehow remove Rahul Gandhi from the Parliament as they feared that the Adani-Modi nexus would be exposed,” he said.
The Assam Congress has been up in arms against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as a Member of Parliament, with the party staging protests almost every day.
The Assam unit of Congress on Saturday took to the streets of Guwahati over the issue.
Several senior leaders, including the Leader of Opposition in the Assam Assembly Debabrata Saikia, and other workers of the party were detained by the police.