What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
What TV doesn't, print can't; we deliver.
NEW DELHI: A seven-member Congress delegation on Monday met President Ram Nath Kovind and raise the issue of alleged mistreatment of the party MPs by Delhi Police.
The Congress has submitted a memorandum to the President highlighting the alleged ill-treatment of the Members of Parliament from the party, who were protesting the Enforcement Directorate (ED)’s questioning of Rahul Gandhi.
The party also highlighted the issue of the government’s Agnipath scheme that has sparked massive protests in several parts of the country.
Speaking to the media after meeting the President, Congress leader P Chidambaram said, “We have given two memorandums to the President of India.”
“First relates to ill-conceived, misguided Agnipath scheme,” the former finance minister said. Chidambaram added that the youths are protesting across the country against the newly launched Agnipath scheme, as this scheme is completely ill-conceived.”
“If this was a pre-planned change then why not pronounce in the scheme,” Chidambaram said while pointing to the changes made after the protests erupted.
“It is a dangerous scheme which will reduce the effectiveness of our armed forces. You will have a six-month trained soldier who will serve for three and half years in the armed forces. What kind of soldier will he be? What kind of a commitment will he have? We have requested the President, as supreme commander of the forces, to protect the tradition and ethos of army, navy and air force and to ensure that those who offered to join these forces are not left high and dry after four years,” Chidambaram said.
The former Union Minister said that the second memorandum is about the police excess and police entering the Congress headquarters, manhandling and assaulting several party leaders.
“There is no justification as we were staging a peaceful Satyagrah in solidarity with our leader,” he said.
Chidambaram alleged that several party MPs were taken 40-50 km away from the city without any order of detention. This is a clear breach of privilege, which is a violation of articles 19, and 21. We have asked the President to call an enquiry and send the matter to the Privileges Committee. Let the matter go to the Privileges Committee, we will present our case and let the Delhi Police present their case,” he added.
He said that the President has assured them that he will look into their memorandum.
Earlier in the day, Congress leaders also staged a ‘Satyagrah’ at the Jantar Mantar over the two issues and marched towards Rashtrapati Bhawan from Vijay Chowk.
Several top leaders, including Rajasthan chief minister Ashok Gehlot, his Chhattisgarh counterpart Bhupesh Baghel and MPs Jairam Ramesh, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and KC Venugopal took part in March.
Earlier, the Delhi Police stopped the party members when they took out a solidarity march from Parliament House to Vijay Chowk.
