Rahul Gandhi disqualification imbroglio: Congress to continue 'black' protest from Parliament

The Congress protest against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification will enter the third day on Tuesday. Members from like-minded opposition parties will join them in the protest.

New Delhi:The Congress will continue their protest in front of the Gandhi statue at Parliament premises on Tuesday against former MP Rahul Gandhi's disqualification from the Lok Sabha. This was decided after an opposition party meet held Monday evening at Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge's residence.

This is the third consecutive day the Congress will stage its protest after Rahul Gandhi was disqualified Friday. Leaders from 18 opposition parties including the DMK, NCP, JD-U, Bharat Rashtra Samithi, CPI-M, CPI, AAP, MDMK, TMC, RSP, RJD, National Conference, IUML, Samajwadi Party and JMM were present in the meeting held to strategise their campaign against the Modi government.

While TMC's surprise entry into the Congress-led opposition's show of unity was seen as welcome gesture by the grand old party veterans, a notable absentee in the meeting was Uddhav Thackeray's Shiv Sena, which took offence to Rahul's snide remarks on VD Savarakar.

The former Maharashtra Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray warned that it is not the time to waste and urged Rahul to not get provoked to verbally assail Savarkar. "My name is not Savarkar. I am Gandhi. Gandhi's do not apologise," Rahul had said at his first media interaction since disqualification.

In yet another significant development to his disqualification, Rahul was served a notice by the Housing Committee of the Lok Sabha to vacate his Tughlaq Lane bungalow as a formality following his exit from the lower House. He has also been given 30-day notice period to avoid eviction.

Responding to this, Congress general secretary KC Venugopal said Rahul was not worried about the house. Fighting for the country's democracy is more important for him at the moment, Venugopal said. On Monday, the opposition held a protest march from the Parliament to Vijay Chowk after both Houses were adjourned in the morning. The Congress chose to come in black to Parliament to mark their protest.

Rahul was disqualified following his conviction in the 'Modi surname' defamation case filed by a Gujarat MLA who had taken offense against a speech he had given in 2019 in Karnataka's Kolar while campaigning for the Lok Sabha elections. Gandhi, in a political satire, drew a parallel on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and fugitives Nirav and Lalit Modi by wondering why do all thieves have Modi surname.