A protest march called by the Congress in Mysuru on Friday against the alleged harassment of All India Congress Committee (AICC) leaders including Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi was thwarted by the city police.
Congress leaders and party supporters gathered in front of Town Hall in response to a call from their leaders for a protest march to Income Tax Office in front of People’s Park in Nazarbad to condemn the BJP Government’s “vendetta politics” against the Congress leaders in the National Herald case.
Several party leaders including Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) working president R. Dhruvanarayan, former Ministers H.C. Mahadevappa and Tanveer Sait, party MLAs Yathindra Siddaramaiah and Anil Chikkamadu and former MLAs Vasu and M.K. Somashekar, besides Congress Mahila Morcha’s state President Pushpa Amarnath, who reached the Town Hall, were arrested by the police.
The police force, which was deployed in large numbers, did not allow the protesters to march towards the Income Tax office. The protesters, who squatted on the road in front of Town Hall after an exchange of words with the police, too were picked up and bundled into waiting police vehicles.
The party supporters, who were holding party flags and placards criticising the BJP Government, also shouted slogans against the BJP Government. Mysuru District Congress Committee President B.J. Vijaykumar accused the BJP Government of misusing “constitutional bodies” in its fight against the Congress party leaders.
The arrested party leaders and supporters were taken away in the police vans to CAR grounds from where they were later released.
Memorandum
The Congress leaders, meanwhile, submitted a memorandum addressed to the President, Ram Nath Kovind, through Deputy Commissioner of Mysuru, seeking his intervention to prevent “political witch hunting” of the Congress leaders by the Centre.
The memorandum asked the President to take suitable steps for dropping the “illegal” proceedings of ED against the leaders of the Congress party.
The Congress memorandum also urged the President to ensure that the party leaders are not prevented from holding peaceful protests on the issue. They also sought directions to the police not to manhandle the Congress leaders, workers and female leaders and workers of the party.
“We hope your esteemed office will take note of all these illegal acts of the Union Government, the ED and the police and will issue proper directions to them to uphold the true spirit of the democracy and the provisions of the Constitution in the interest of justice”, the memorandum said.
