Vowing to fight against any attempt to undermine the Constitution, Congress leaders and thousands of party workers organised a march against the new citizenship law on Saturday, which marked the party’s 135th foundation day.
Led by Mumbai Congress president Eknath Gaikwad and State party chief Balasaheb Thorat, the march to Girgaum Chowpatty started at 10 a.m. by hoisting the national flag at Tejpal Hall near August Kranti Maidan where the Indian National Congress was founded in 1885.
‘Unkept promises’
Congress general secretary in-charge of Maharashtra Mallikarjun Kharge, who took part in the march, lashed out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah for “misleading the country” over the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the National Register of Citizens (NRC).
He said, “Modi and Shah had made several promises like depositing ₹15 lakh in every citizen’s bank account and creating two crore jobs every year, but none of these promises were kept.”
He said the NDA government’s decision to implement the CAA, NRC and National Population Register are intended to create a “religious divide and anarchy” in the country. The Constitution offers equal rights to all the citizens, but the BJP government, which is being run by the RSS, is trying to change the Constitution.”
Mr. Kharge said Mr. Modi and Mr. Shah are trying to walk over the Constitution and divide the country on the basis of religion and caste.
Mr. Thorat said the BJP was trying to strip citizens of their constitutional rights. “But we will not let this attempt succeed. The Congress has launched a new freedom struggle to rid the country of Modi and Shah’s dictatorship,” he said.
The party members subsequently marched towards the August Kranti Maidan holding the Tricolour and raising slogans like “ Desh ka jhanda teen rang ka, nahi chalega do rang ka (The country's flag has three colours, it is unacceptable with just two).” They also paid tributes at Gandhi Smruti Stambh.
The rally then headed to Gowalia Tank and ended at the Lokmanya Tilak statue at Girgaum Chowpatty. Scores of Congress MPs, MLAs, leaders and activists were seen at the rally, which progressed under tight security.
(With PTI inputs)
