Rahul Gandhi's disqualification: Antony calls for opposition unity; protests erupt in Wayanad

Thiruvananthapuram: Wayanad, the constituency of Rahul Gandhi, witnessed widespread protests over its MP losing his Lok Sabha membership in the wake of his conviction in the defamation case.

Congress workers took out a march to the BSNL office at Kalpetta, the district headquarters, with the protesters forcing their way into the office under the leadership of local MLA T Siddique.

Protests at several places

Protests were also held at other places in the district, including Bethary and Mananthavadi. Veteran Congress leader AK Antony said the party would deal with the problem both at the political and legal levels. Former leader of opposition Ramesh Chennithala described the action against Rahul Gandhi as the murder of democracy.

“Democracy is in danger in India. So all those parties must forget their differences. First thing’s first, we must protect our democracy and our Constitution. So, all opposition parties must unite and we must fight against this mischievous move by the present government. This is my appeal,” AK Antony told the media at the KPCC headquarters in Thiruvananthapuram.

It was ironical a case was filed in Surat for a speech in Karnataka just as it was Delhi Police which filed cases about remarks made in J&K. Former opposition leader Ramesh Chennithala said the action amounted to murder of democracy and attributed this to the success of Bharat Jodo Yatra has rattled Modi. "There is a concerted effort to silence Rahul Gandhi, to weaken him. It is a conspiracy," the Congress leader said.

Sangh Parivar’s attack against democracy: CM Pinarayi Vijayan

Chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan tweeted the cancellation of Rahul’s LS membership was the latest episode in Sangh Parivar’s attack against democracy. It is unfortunate the action has been taken in the name of a political speech. He asserted it was another manifestation of the fascist approach of BJP to suppress criticism. If this is the case of a person like Rahul, what would be the plight of the ordinary citizen?He referred to the use of central agencies in non-BJP ruled states and a large number of arrests for the anti-government posters that appeared on the streets of Delhi.

The Kerala CM called upon on democratic forces to come together to fight BJP’s intolerance towards criticism.Antony’s son Anil Antony said the Congress should instead work on issues of the country. Anil tweeted, “The plight of INC India from 2014, especially post 2017, is a sad case study. The party ideally should stop focussing on the gaffes and bloopers of an individual and work on the issues of the country. Else won't exist beyond 2024.”