Congress to lay siege to Parliament on May 6

The Congress will hit the streets against the Modi government on May 6 at a time when the Centre and the BJP are trying to corner the main Opposition on a number of issues, giving a clear message that the fight is not over even after the BJP’s victory in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will lead the party’s march to “gherao (surround)” Parliament on May 6 in protest against the Modi government for toppling governments in Opposition-ruled states — Uttarakhand and Arunachal Pradesh — and on the issues of growing unemployment, escalating prices of essential commodities, severe drought affecting 40 crore people, rise in farmer suicides and the government’s “deliberate lies” on issues of national importance.

The march will be taken out from Jantar Mantar here. Besides the Congress chief, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, party MPs, CWC members, CLP leaders and leaders of frontal organisations would take part in the “gherao”.

The confrontation between the Modi government and the Opposition has been escalating ever since the BJP lost the Bihar and Delhi Assembly polls. These losses were seen as defeats for Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP president Amit Shah. Although the Congress did not gain much from these two states, the outcome has given regional parties confidence that they can check the saffron party’s march towards an all-India presence.

Last year, the Congress had organised a rally at Ram Lila grounds on April 19 to protest against the controversial Land Acquisition Bill which it had dubbed as “anti-farmer and pro-corporate”. Before that, Mrs Sonia Gandhi had led a march of Opposition leaders to Rashtrapati Bhavan on the issue.

Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala on Saturday said the “gherao” would be the culmination of a “save democracy” march being undertaken in the wake of attempts by Mr Modi and his government to “topple” duly elected governments, as was witnessed in the “conspiracies” in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

In an obvious reference to the AgustaWestland issue, he said the march was also against the “drama” being enacted by the BJP and the government and their campaign of “deceit and deliberate lies”.

Mr Surjewala said the march was also to highlight the drought and the agrarian crisis that has forced a spate of farmer suicides and has affected 40 crore people spread over a large number of states.

A party leader said workers from states in Delhi’s neighbourhood, like Haryana, Rajasthan and (western) Uttar Pradesh, would participate in the protest action.

In Jaipur, PCC president Sachin Pilot said the Rajasthan unit of the party would participate in the march. “We have seen the undemocratic face of the Modi government in Arunachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand,” he said.