Venugopal sees red as Congress MLAs skip ‘CBI protest’

AICC general secretary in charge of Karnataka K C Venugopal was reportedly miffed with party legislators for not showing up at the protest outside the CBI office here as part of the Congress’ nationwide stir on Friday.

Over a hundred party workers, mostly from the Youth Congress and the National Students Union of India, staged a protest against the Modi administration’s “interference” in the affairs of the country’s premier investigation agency. However, when Venugopal joined the show, he found not a single party MLA or MLC was present. Apparently, all of them had been asked to participate since it was a call that came directly from Congress president Rahul Gandhi.

A city MLA, however, pointed out that they were away in connection with the responsibilities entrusted to them ahead of November 3 bypoll.

Speaking to reporters later, Venugopal said the CBI’s credibility was under threat. “The AICC president has categorically stated that there’s a move against investigation of the Rafale deal. Those who honestly investigate the deal will be punished and targeted. This is the message the Indian government has sent by removing CBI director Alok Verma, an officer with some integrity. The Congress will not allow this,” he said.