PM's effigy burnt during Congress protest at Wayanad against Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Congress leaders who were part of the protest march were by force removed from the site and carried away by the police to their bus

Wayanad on Saturday witnessed strong protests, including the burning of an effigy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi by Congress workers and its youth and student wings, over the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi as an MP who represented the constituency.

Congress leaders, including MLA T Siddique, who were part of the protest march to the office of BSNL in Kalpetta in Wayanad, were by force removed from the site and carried away by the police to their bus.

Besides them, several Youth Congress (YC) and KSU leaders were also arrested and removed from the protest site.

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The leaders and workers of the party and its youth and student wings, after marching to the BSNL office had sat down on the road in front of it, which led to the blocking of traffic movement, according to visuals aired on TV channels.

Some YC workers were also seen climbing over police barricades into the BSNL office compound.

As the Congress, YC and KSU leaders and workers were being hauled away, they kept shouting slogans like 'INC zindabad'.

Earlier in the day, Leader of Opposition in the State Assembly and senior Congress leader V D Satheesan told reporters in Kochi that the party and the UDF would be holding protests across the state against the disqualification of Gandhi.

The party would also hold a protest march to the Kerala Raj Bhavan on March 27, he said.

Gandhi was convicted and sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court on Wednesday in a 2019 criminal defamation case over his "Modi surname" remark.

A day later, the Lok Sabha Secretariat in a notification said that his disqualification was effective from March 23 -- the day of his conviction.