Sonia leads march to Prez, slams PM on 'intolerance'

Growing dissent: Cong accuses Modi of endorsing violence

Hundreds of Congress leaders, led by party president Sonia Gandhi, on Tuesday marched from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan to protest against the “growing intolerance” in the country.

They also accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of endorsing violence by remaining silent on the issue.

Covering a distance of little over a kilometre from the Gandhi statue in Parliament complex to the President’s estate on Raisina Hill, a delegation of 125 Congress leaders submitted a memorandum to President Pranab Mukherjee and requested him to use the “political and moral authority of his office to impress upon the prime minister that this is unacceptable.”

“Some organisations and people associated with the government or a part of Modiji's government are trying to attack the plurality of the country and are promoting intolerance,” Sonia told reporters in the forecourt of the Rashtrapati Bhavan, flanked by former prime minister Manmohan Singh, party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others.

The march seeks to give political voice to the slew of protests launched by eminent authors, scientists, filmmakers and artists. “The President had expressed his opinion, but the prime minister is silent which clearly shows that he approves of such incidents,” said Sonia.

At the meeting, Sonia read out the two-page memorandum accusing sections of the ruling establishment for creating an atmosphere of fear, intolerance and intimidation.

“…his (prime minister’s) council of ministers continue to harbour individuals who are contributing heavily to spreading hate and divisiveness,” the memorandum stated.

Speaking to reporters, Rahul said the prime minister and Finance Minister Arun Jaitley’s remarks that “everything was fine” was the “heart of the problem”“These people believe in intolerance. Ideologically they are not tolerant. It is not a matter of just Congress party alone. It is a problem of every Indian ...and the prime minister does not believe in that,” said Rahul.

To Jaitley’s comment on “manufactured protests”, Rahul said people belonging to the RSS and the BJP were manufacturing these incidents. “If the finance minister feels there is nothing going on, he should go to the villages and see what is happening,” Rahul added.

Former Punjab chief minister Amarinder Singh was seen at a party event after a long time. Singh, the deputy leader of the Congress in the Lok Sabha, had stayed away from Parliament when his party stalled proceedings over scams involving BJP leaders.