Fight not meant for Rahul Gandhi but to safeguard democracy, highlight corruption: Congress's Ajay Maken

 The Congress' campaign following Rahul Gandhi's "hasty disqualification" from the Lok Sabha is meant to safeguard democracy and highlight corruption in the country, senior leader Ajay Maken said on Tuesday.

The former Union minister also reiterated the party's demand for setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee (JPC) to probe into the allegations against the Adani Group.

"Look at the sequence of events, which culminated in the hasty disqualification of Gandhi -- who raised serious questions on the links between (Prime Minister Narendra) Modi and Adani in Parliament. Instead of getting answers, he was disqualified which we see as democracy-disqualified.

"Our fight is not for Rahul (Gandhi) but it is meant to safeguard democracy in the country. We will continue our protest to expose corruption and safeguard the interests of the common citizens, who are becoming victims of crony capitalism," Maken told reporters at the Congress' headquarters here.

Gandhi was on March 23 sentenced to two years in jail by a Surat court in a 2019 criminal defamation case. The two-year jail term triggered his disqualification as a Lok Sabha member from the date of the verdict.

Flanked by senior party leaders, including Pradesh Congress Committee chief Vikar Rasool Wani, working president Raman Bhalla and chief spokesperson Ravinder Sharma, Maken said Gandhi is not fighting to gain control of power but to defend the country's democratic institutions and its people.

Pessing for a JPC probe into the Adani issue, Maken said the government should respect the joint demand of the opposition as JPCs were set up twice in the past by previous regimes to make things clear.

"Why are they (BJP) afraid of setting up a JPC despite the fact that it will have the largest number of members in it?

"The JPC is a must to expose the connection between Modi and Adani and also to identify the shell companies that are directly linked to national security as there is a possibility of these companies having direct backing from China and Pakistan," he said.