Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee (APCC) president Sake Sailajanath, party’s other senior leaders and activists were arrested on Thursday while they were protesting against Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in the National Herald case.
Responding to a call given by the party’s central leadership, the APCC gave a “chalo Raj Bhavan” call, and even as the party leaders started their protest march, they were detained by the police who said the party did not have the permission for the proposed protest.
After the protest, Mr. Sailajanath was to address the press at hotel Southern Grand in Gandhinagar, where police personnel were deployed to avoid any possible trouble.
The State Congress chief, who was shifted to the Krishnalanka police station along with other party leaders, strongly condemned the “autocratic rule” of the Narendra Modi government at the Centre and the Jagan Mohan Reddy rule in the State.
Calling the ED action “vendetta politics of the BJP government against the Opposition leaders”, Mr. Sailajanath took exception to the police forcefully entering the AICC headquarters and allegedly beating up party leaders and workers insides the premises and said “this kind of hooliganism” would not be tolerated.
Raising slogans of “Modi hatao, desh ko bachao”, the protesting Congress leaders demanded that “the cases framed against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi be removed and Prime Minister Narendra Modi tender an unconditional apology to the Congress party and people of the nation”.
Mr. Sailajanath said the Constitution had given the right to protest peacefully, but the rulers were trying to suppress them. “People are watching and they will teach a fitting lesson to such governments in the next elections,” he said.
The party’s city unit president and a few others were shifted to the Governorpet police station, while some others, who were not allowed to stir out of the Andhra Ratna Bhavan, staged a protest by squatting on the floor of their party office.
