NE NEWS SERVICE
NEW DELHI, DEC 23
Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi on Monday led a ‘Satyagraha for Unity’ of party leaders to protest against the Narendra Modi government’s perceived attempts to rewrite the Constitution through the controversial Citizenship Amendment Act.
With Rajghat, Mahatma Gandhi’s Samadhi, forming the backdrop, the party chose the Satyagraha mode to lodge its protest, with senior leaders taking turns to read the Preamble of the Constitution in different Indian languages, and the proceedings interspersed with patriotic numbers and devotional songs.
The Congress chief read the Preamble in English, followed by other senior leaders, including former prime minister Manmohan Singh, ex-Congress chief Rahul Gandhi, AICC general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, and Ashok Gehlot and Kamal Nath, the party’s chief ministers in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, respectively.
The Preamble declares India “a Sovereign, Socialist, Secular, and Democratic republic”. It secures justice, liberty, equality to all the citizens of India and promotes fraternity among the people.
Rahul’s presence on the stage generated keen interest since his visit to South Korea, described as an official one, at a time when the country erupted in protests against the CAA and the National Register of Citizens, had invited criticism from both within and outside the party.
Also present on the occasion were Congress leaders Ahmed Patel, A.K. Antony, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Anand Sharma, K.C. Venugopal, Mallikarjun Kharge, Mukul Wasnik, Bhupinder Hooda, Digvijaya Singh, P.L. Poonia, Jyotiraditya Scindia and Rajiv Satav. The event, kept low-key to go with the concept of Satyagraha, saw participation of a large number of party workers.
The Satyagraha is among a series of events that the Congress has planned to protest against the CAA and the proposed NRC. The party’s state units have organised marches in the respective states.
The Congress has also planned ‘Save India-Save Constitution’ flag marches in all state capitals on December 28—the party’s foundation day. It has also decided to supplement the December 28 programme with other events since it was felt that the principal opposition party should be seen in solidarity with the popular, country-wide unrest against the CAA-NRC.
