Rahul questioning: Congress stages gherao of Raj Bhavans
New Delhi: Congress leaders and workers continued their protests in several states on Thursday against Rahul Gandhi's questioning by the Enforcement Directorate in the National Herald money-laundering case with many of them taken into preventive custody including former Union minister Renuka Chowdhury in Hyderabad after she allegedly grabbed the collar of a police official.
The Congress during the day staged a gherao of all Raj Bhavans across the country.
Gandhi has been questioned by the ED for three consecutive days in the case, with the agency seeking answers about his "personal role" in taking decisions regarding the media organisation and its owner Young Indian. Mild tension prevailed near the Raj Bhavan in Telangana, after scores of Congress leaders and workers marched towards it but police foiled their attempts and dispersed them.
The party claimed some of its leaders were injured due to baton charge by police.
A video showing Chowdhury "arguing" with police officials during the melee and later holding the collar of the police official went viral. She told TV channels that she had no intention of humiliating the police official and merely caught hold of his shoulder as she was about to fall when being pushed.
A senior police official said Chowdhury was subsequently taken into preventive custody besides Telangana state Congress chief and party MP A Revanth Reddy and Congress Legislature Party leader Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka among others.
Protesting Delhi Congress workers were thwarted with water cannons during a march to Lieutenant Governor's residence here. The protest march led by state president Anil Kumar was stopped by the police, minutes after it started from Sushrut Trauma Centre in Civil Lines. Kumar suffered serious head injury when the police used water cannons to disperse the protesting workers, the party alleged.
Earlier, Congress MPs met Lok Sabha Speaker Om Birla and Rajya Sabha Chairman M Venkaiah Naidu to raise the issue of Delhi Police action against party lawmakers including some women during their protests in the national capital, and alleged they were treated like "terrorists". They also alleged that their privileges as members of Parliament have been breached and demanded lawful action against Delhi Police. The Congress has been accusing Delhi Police of criminal trespass by entering the AICC office on Wednesday and beating up its leaders in the past couple of days during demonstrations.
The delegation that met Birla was led by the party's leader in the House Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, while the delegation that called on Naidu was led by the Leader of Opposition Mallikarjun Kharge.
They also handed over a pen drive containing videos of the alleged harassment of MPs and how they were "ill-treated" by Delhi Police personnel.
In Maharashtra, many Congress leaders including senior ministers of the Maharashtra government were detained by police when they tried to remove barricades placed outside the Raj Bhavan gate during their protest march which started near the Hanging Garden in south Mumbai.
State Congress president Nana Patole, PWD Minister Ashok Chavan, Revenue Minister Balasaheb Thorat, Energy Minister Nitin Raut, Fisheries Minister Aslam Sheikh, Women and Child Welfare Minister Yashomati Thakur, School Education Minister Varsha Gaikwad, Medical Education Minister Amit Deshmukh, Minister of State for Agriculture Vishwajit Kadam and Mumbai Congress chief Bhai Jagtap were among those detained. In Karnataka, a large number of Congress workers led by former chief minister Siddaramaiah and state unit president D K Shivakumar took out a massive rally towards Raj Bhavan in Bengaluru.
