Congress burns effigies of PM in city

Kolkata: Accusing the BJP of “trying to stifle the opposition voices” in the country, state Congress activists today burnt the effigies of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and organised rallies to protest the detention of party vice-president Rahul Gandhi in New Delhi yesterday.

“To protest the humiliation meted out to Rahulji at Ram Monohar Lohia hospital in Delhi, Congress workers staged a censure rally in each district headquarters in West Bengal. We will not allow the BJP to stifle the democratic rights of the opposition parties. We all stand by Rahulji in his fight against the BJP’s misrule and autocracy,” state Congress chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury said.

The suicide by an ex-armyman over the ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) issue in New Delhi snowballed into a huge political show yesterday with Gandhi, Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and other opposition leaders slamming the Modi government on the issue, while there was high drama after the police prevented them from entering the hospital and later, detained them.

Effigies of Modi were burnt and protest rallies were organised by Youth Congress activists across the state.