Security Tightened As Opposition Parties March To Rashtrapati Bhavan Protesting Rahul Gandhi’s Sentencing

NEW DELHI: As the opposition parties, including the Congress, marched towards Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest Rahul Gandhi's sentencing by a Surat court that sentenced him to two years in prison, security has been stepped up at Vijay Chowk.

KC Venugopal, the general secretary of the Congress, stated this to media. "We have examined the circumstances. The verdict was extremely unfortunate for the Congress Party. We'll march in support of the Congress Party. We're trying to get the President to meet with us.”

“They are exploring every option to silence his voice. However, Rahul Gandhi and the Congress will speak. Rahul Gandhi is not to blame for this problem. It is because of the environment in the nation. Every form of opposition is being put down. I'm glad that the parties are standing together," he added.

Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Congress, was given a two-year prison term earlier on Thursday by a Surat court in a defamation case stemming from his remark about the "Modi surname" he made in 2019 at an election rally in Karnataka.

Rahul Gandhi's bail was nevertheless approved by the court with a surety, and the sentence was postponed for 30 days so that he could appeal to higher courts.

On the other side, Congress affiliates throughout a number of states have started protests simultaneously and charged the Centre with having political grudges.

As this was going on, the Karnataka police apprehended DK Shivakumar, the state head of the Congress, and other party officials who were protesting the Surat Court decision.

The day before, opposition leaders and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge met to discuss future tactics.

Senior party leaders from the DMK, National Conference, RSP, VCK, JDU, CPI(M), SP, SS, IUML, AAP, and CPI, in addition to the Congress, were present at the meeting of the Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha in his office within the Parliament complex.

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