Congress MPs to wear black clothes in parliament to protest Rahul Gandhi's disqualification

Intensifying its protest against the Modi government over the Adani issue and disqualification of Rahul Gandhi from Lok Sabha, Congress MPs will attend the proceedings wearing black clothes on Monday.

The Congress has been demanding a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) probe into the Hindenburg Research report against the Adani Group. Now, with the disqualification of Rahul after he was convicted by a Gujarat court in a defamation case, the parliament session is expected to be stormy.

The opposition leaders will meet on Monday in the Rajya Sabha LoP's chamber to discuss the strategy to be adopted on the floor of the house, ANI reported.

Both the upper house and the lower house have witnessed a logjam in the first two weeks of the second part of the budget session, with the members from the Treasury benches trying to stonewall the opposition charges and demanding an apology from Rahul for the remarks he had made in London.

On Sunday, the Congress leaders and workers held protests across the country over Rahul's disqualification, with party president Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra accusing the government of "trying to silence" a "martyr's son" for raising the voice of people.

Countering the BJP's charge that Rahul Gandhi insulted Priyanka Gandhi asked how a leader whose family has "given its blood to nurture democracy" and who has walked thousands of kilometres from Kanyakumari to Kashmir with a message of unity could insult the country or a certain community.

Gandhi was disqualified from the Lok Sabha on Friday, a day after a court in Gujarat's Surat convicted him in a 2019 defamation case. The disqualification will prevent Gandhi (52), a four-time MP, from contesting elections for eight years unless a higher court stays the conviction.

Congress MPs including Rahul Gandhi had protested agianst flawed GST, price hikes and unemployment by wearing black cloths last year during the monsoon session of parliament.

(With PTI inputs)