Congress has called Legislators from Gujarat to go to Delhi on Wednesday 22nd June 2022 to take part in the ‘Satyagraha’ at party headquarters amid protests over Rahul Gandhi’s questioning by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) and the Central government’s Agnipath scheme.
The call is given by the party’s central leadership at a time the time when the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in Maharashtra is in the middle of a grim crisis as Shiv Sena leader Eknath Shinde has revolted against his party leader and chief minister Uddhav Thackrey, and has moved to Guwahati with more than 40 other MLAs. Congress is one of the three partners in the MVA alliance.
Gujarat Congress MLAs in Delhi after call from All India Congress Committee (AICC) to join ‘Satyagraha’ at party headquarters in Delhi against ED questioning of party MP Rahul Gandhi in National Herald case and Agnipath Scheme.
— DeshGujarat (@DeshGujarat) June 22, 2022
On Tuesday, Congress MLA and deputy leader of the opposition in the state Assembly, Shailesh Parmar said, “The All India Congress Committee has asked us to reach Delhi by Wednesday morning. We will be given the information regarding the program tomorrow morning. Most of the party’s 64 MLAs will reach Delhi and join the program as directed by the party’s central leadership.”
The grand old party is holding demonstrations in support of Rahul Gandhi, who is being interrogated by the Enforcement Directorate in relation to the National Herald money-laundering case. Another Congress MLA CJ Chavda said, “Small staffers of ED are questioning our leader which does not look good and the party leaders will join the protest.”
Rahul Gandhi is being questioned by ED since 13th June 2022 in the National Herald case. The Congress party is protesting since then in front of various offices of the central government in different states. Many such demonstrations by Congress members took a violent turn where public transport vehicles were vandalized and tyres were burnt. Congress leader and former minister Renuka Chowdhury grabbed a police sub-inspector by his collar during one such protest in Hyderabad of Telangana. Sonia Gandhi was also summoned by Enforcement Directorate for questioning in the same case. But she skipped the interrogation after being down with the Covid infection.
Political crisis in Maharashtra deepens as Eknath Shinde and other MLAs rebel against Shiv Sena
Meanwhile, there is a significant political turnaround in the Maha Vikas Aghadi government in which Congress is one of the three partners. The other two are Shiv Sena and Nationalist Congress Party. In the recently held elections of the Maharashtra state Legislative Council, Congress could not secure the victory for the two candidates it fielded. While Bhai Jagtap could win the seat, Chandrakant Handore had to lose. Bharatiya Janata Party’s extra candidate Prasad Lad won the fifth seat for his party due to the heavy cross-voting by MLAs from Shiv Sena and Congress.
Soon after this election, Eknath Shinde left the state, first for Surat and then to Guwahati along with more than 40 other MLAs, causing a major shift in the political equations of the state. While Congress has no definite future for its partnership government in Maharashtra, it has called in its MLAs in Gujarat to Delhi for protesting against ED.
