In protest against the demonstration held by the Congress party outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Kalyan Marg residence in Delhi on Tuesday, the BJP organised an “Aakrosh March” here on Wednesday.
Led by BJP state president Dr Archana Gupta, party workers gathered at the Subhash Chowk and marched to the Congress party office at Ambedkar Chowk.
BJP national secretary Om Parkash Dhankar, former minister Manish Grover, former Rajya Sabha MP Ram Chander Jangra were among those prominent present on the occasion.
During the march, BJP workers raised anti-Congress slogans and staged a dharna on the road outside the Congress office.
Interestingly, Congress workers were also present at their office and responded by raising anti-BJP slogans. Security personnel formed a protective cordon between the Congress office and the BJP protesters to prevent any untoward incident or confrontation.
Later, Gupta while addressing the party workers, launched a sharp attack on Rahul Gandhi and Congress.
The BJP state president said that the Congress’ protest outside PM’s official residence was an attempt to challenge democratic norms and security arrangements. She termed the protest unfortunate and condemnable.
Targeting Rahul Gandhi, she said that when the NEET examination issue came to light, he remained abroad for a long time and became active only after the Parliament session began. She alleged that instead of engaging in constructive discussions, Rahul was pursuing the politics of protests.
Dhankar said Congress and Rahul Gandhi were continuously attempting to mislead people by questioning the credibility of democratic institutions.
He alleged that Rahul had also raised questions about India’s democratic system during his visits abroad. He said that the BJP remained fully committed to the Constitution and democratic traditions.
Earlier, local Congress workers also took out a protest march in the city over alleged paper leaks and the detention of Congress leaders in Delhi and Haryana. The march culminated at the mini secretariat, where they submitted a memorandum to the district authorities, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.
An interesting scene was witnessed during a BJP protest march when a young girl travelling in an auto-rickshaw began raising anti-BJP slogans after noticing BJP workers marching on the opposite side of the road.
As the auto-rickshaw got caught in a traffic jam, she stepped out of the vehicle and continued raising slogans against the BJP before leaving the spot.
Congress MLA from Rohtak Bharat Bhushan Batra accused the BJP of resorting to political drama to divert public attention from issues affecting the people. He said the public now understands such tactics and is no longer misled by them.
Referring to the BJP’s protest in Rohtak, Batra said the manner in which a young woman travelling in an auto-rickshaw stopped and responded to BJP leaders by raising slogans reflected the changing public mood in Haryana.
He said the incident sent a clear message that the people of Haryana were no longer afraid of or willing to be intimidated by the BJP. According to him, every attempt by the BJP to divert attention from public issues would now fail.
Batra further said BJP leaders should understand that the protesting youth are “our own children” and an integral part of a civilised society. Instead of trying to suppress them through the use of force, it is the government’s responsibility to ensure a safe and better future for the youth, he added.