New Delhi, March 30 (IANS) Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Thursday said that a legal team is working on the case in which former INC chief Rahul Gandhi was convicted by a Gujarat court following which he was disqualified from the Lok Sabha.
Kharge said that the party is ready to face the matter "politically and legally", and also criticised the Central government for disqualifying Rahul Gandhi "in haste".
The Congress president termed the disqualification "vengeance".
As a mark of protest against the disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from the Lok Sabha, and to press its demand for a probe into the allegations of fraud levelled against the Adani Group, the Congress has launched 'Jai Bharat Satyagraha' across the country against the Centre .
The party has set up a war room to monitor the 'Satyagraha', which will culminate in Delhi with a rally.
Congress General Secretary K.C. Venugopal had said: "The 'Jai Bharat Satyagraha' is a protest against the erroneous conviction and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi, and to express the party's strong resolve to keep raising the voice of the people against the blatant loot of people's money and nation's wealth."
As part of the programmes planned to be organised during the protest, all block/mandal units of the Congress will hold 'nukkad sabhas' and address the public on relevant issues.
Social media campaigns focusing on Rahul Gandhi's message to the people will also be carried out to appeal for public support for the 'Satyagraha'.
The decision of organising the mahapanchayat was taken in a meeting of the SKM, held in Haryana's Kurukshetra on Thursday, where office-bearers of the farmers' organisations from many states including Uttar Pradesh, Haryana and Punjab participated.
The development came a day after the police arrested a juvenile and recovered 15 packets of heroin, weighing 15 kg, and Rs 8.40 lakh drug money from his possession in Amritsar.
The arrested accused has been identified as Vijay Kumar, a.k.a. Toti, while his three aides have been identified as Amardeep Singh, Sooraj Singh and Rahul Lahoch, all residents of Jalandhar. The main accused, Vijay, has been facing 18 criminal cases pertaining to drugs, illegal weapons, kidnapping and extortion.
The Directorate of Revenue Intelligence (DRI) has arrested three persons, who were trying to smuggle 17.74 kg gold worth Rs 10.1 crore on a fishing boat, and threw it overboard when intercepted, an official said on Thursday.
The Etah police have arrested four members of a gang including a 30-year-old woman, who robbed men of their valuables after a fake marriage. If the victim family took any action, the gang would threaten them with a fake dowry harassment case.
Under the policy, some private rehab centres have already been served with closure notices. Some have even closed. There are cases where rehab centres have shifted from Punjab and set up bases in neighbouring states.
