Congress postpones Bengaluru protest to Aug 8 in wake of Shibu Soren's death

Bengaluru: Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s protest against “vote theft” on Tuesday has been postponed to August 8 in the wake of former Jharkhand chief minister Shibu Soren’s death, Congress general secretary Randeep Singh Surjewala announced on Monday.

Surjewala said Rahul and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge will visit Jharkhand on Tuesday to pay their last respects to Soren. 

Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is also the Karnataka Congress president, urged all his party colleagues to participate in the August 8 agitation. “Though August 8 is Varamahalakshmi festival, we have decided to prioritize party work. We will ensure that there are no obstacles for the public in celebrating the festival,” he said. 

The opposition BJP, too, announced the postponement of its Tuesday protest. The saffron party had decided to stage a protest at the Mahatma Gandhi statue in Vidhana Soudha to counter Rahul Gandhi’s agitation. The BJP is likely to reschedule its stir to August 8.