New Delhi:
The Congress convened a meeting of all Rajya Sabha and Lok Sabha MPs at 9:45 a.m. on Thursday at the Congressional Parliamentary Party’s office to discuss the party’s future strategy.
The decision to hold a meeting was made shortly after the ED temporarily closed down Young Indian (YI) premises in the Congress National Herald office in Delhi as part of an ongoing money laundering investigation.
In addition, additional police personnel were deployed outside Congress headquarters at 24 Akbar Road, and the residence of interim party chairman Sonia Gandhi at Janpath 10 in order to receive input from the Special Branch on protesters who may have gathered there in large numbers after the ED action of sealing the YI office.
Senior Congress leader Jairam Ramesh scoffed at the additional deployment of the force, saying: “The Delhi police blocking the road leading to AICC headquarters has become the norm rather than the exception! Why they just did that is mysterious. “
Congressional MPs will also issue a reprieve notice in parliament regarding today’s incident.
At a press conference, Congress leader Ajay Maken said they have received a letter from the Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) stating that the party cannot protest on August 5 and that AICC was being transformed into a police cantonment.
Earlier on July 30, the party announced it would witness a massive nationwide protest against price hikes and unemployment on August 5. In Delhi, party MPs will keep “Chalo Rashtrapati Bhavan” out of parliament to register their protest on the issues; CWC members and senior leadership to participate in “PM House gherao” that day.
“Today we received a letter from DCP that we cannot protest on August 5 and AICC was turned into a police cantonment. The government can suppress us as much as they want, but we will protest against inflation, unemployment, GST on edible articles & continue with our schedule even if you are imprisoned,” said Mr Maken.
Meanwhile, all opposition parties, including TMC, INC, DMK, AAP, TRS, SP, CPI(M), RJD and Shiv Sena, issued a joint statement expressing their “deep concern about the long-term ramifications of the recent Supreme Court ruling that the amendments to the PMLA 2002 are fully confirmed.
Congress Secretary General Jairam Ramesh said that today 17 opposition parties including Trinamool Congress (TMC) and Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and one independent Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal signed this joint statement, which dealt with the implication of the Supreme Court judgment (on amendments to PMLA 2002), especially when the government’s sole principle is “political vendetta”.
“Further steps will also be taken. We have requested a review and our leaders and opposition leaders will also meet with the president. Steps will also be taken to take it up in the Supreme Court,” he added.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.)