UPCC protests Rahul Gandhi’s disqualification

The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) on Friday protested the disqualification of senior party leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker following a Gujarat court finding him guilty in a defamation case

The Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee (UPCC) on Friday protested the disqualification of senior party leader Rahul Gandhi as a lawmaker following a Gujarat court finding him guilty in a defamation case.

Congress supporters stage a protest march over party leader Rahul Gandhi's disqualification as a Member of the Lok Sabha (MP), in Lucknow on Friday. (ANI Photo)

As the news of the disqualification reached the UPCC headquarters in Lucknow, the partymen, led by UPCC president Brijlal Khabri, began marching towards the Raj Bhawan.

The Congress leaders and workers met with police intervention, and several, including Khabri, were taken into preventive custody. The partymen, however, continued to raise slogans in support of Rahul Gandhi and kept moving towards GPO despite engaging in a minor scuffle with the police.

They staged a dharna before the statue of Mahatma Gandhi at GPO Park.

A UPCC spokesperson said those detained were taken to ECO Garden, and were released in the evening.

Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi in a tweet said he was ready to pay any cost to raise the issues concerning the people. “I am fighting for the voice of India. I am ready to pay any cost,” he said.

A Surat court convicted the Wayanad MP and awarded him a two-year jail sentence over his remark made in Karnataka ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha election, and in which he wondered ‘how all thieves have Modi surnames’.