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'.
A day earlier, Sonia Gandhi asked party chiefs Sidhu in Punjab, Ganesh Godiyal in Uttarakhand, Ajay Kumar Lallu in Uttar Pradesh, Girish Chodankar in Goa and Nameirakpam Loken Singh in Manipur to resign. Sidhu, once a Chief Minister aspirant, faced defeat from his stronghold Amritsar (East) seat.
Senior advocate Dushyant Dave, representing the family members, submitted before a bench headed by Chief Justice N.V. Ramana that on March 10, a protected witness in the case had been attacked and the state government did not file an appeal challenging the bail granted to Misra in the case.
The SAD also announced the expulsion of Kalka from the primary membership of the party, besides dissolving the party's Delhi unit. It also announced the formation of a five-member ad hoc committee headed by veteran leader Avtar Singh Hit, and comprising Harinder Singh Kaypee, Bhupinder Singh Anand, Gurdev Singh Bhola, and Ravinder Singh Khurana.
In December last year, the Supreme Court had said it expects a fair investigation and investigating agencies should be neutral, as it asked Delhi Police to conclude the probe, by December 15, in a case against Singh.
Amid a call for leadership change in the party, Congress General Secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Priyanka Gandhi Vadra has called a meeting of party leaders on Tuesday to find out the reasons for the defeat. The Congress could only get just over 2 per cent votes and two seats in the Uttar Pradesh polls.
The plea argued that the high court granted bail without considering the heinous nature of the crime and also in the backdrop of overwhelming evidence against the accused in the charge sheet. The plea further argued that there is likelihood of the accused tampering with the witnesses and causing obstruction in justice.
