‘Every FIR is a medal’: Rahul Gandhi after Akashwani Bhavan complaint

Rahul Gandhi said his “goal is to have 100 FIRs” after a complaint was lodged against him and other INDIA bloc leaders over Tuesday’s Akashwani Bhavan protest. Gandhi said he already faced 45 FIRs and called each one a “medal”

New Delhi: Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday took a jibe after an FIR was lodged against him for staging an over nine-hour sit-in at the Akashwani Bhavan, saying he already had 45 cases against him and that his “goal is to have 100 FIRs”.

The LoP made the remarks before heading to Jantar Mantar, along with INDIA bloc leaders, to continue their agitation against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls.

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Speaking to reporters, Gandhi said: “I have 45 FIRs against me. My goal is to have 100. I want 100 FIRs to be filed against me. Every FIR is a medal for me.”

The Delhi Police has received a complaint against LoP Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other INDIA bloc MPs accompanying them for allegedly forcibly entering the Akashwani Bhavan during their protest on Tuesday, officials said on Wednesday.

Gandhi further said: “As I said yesterday, around 300 MPs from the Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha wanted to meet the CEC yesterday. He did not meet us. The Delhi Police stopped us, and yesterday they said that we cannot protest there.

“So, our plan today is to go to the designated protest site, Jantar Mantar, and sit there again and tell the country that, for us, Gyanesh Kumar is not the legitimate Election Commissioner of the country,” he added.

Gandhi reiterated his remarks from Tuesday, saying: “PM Modi, along with Home Minister Amit Shah, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Gyanesh Kumar have together finished the country’s democracy… as I said yesterday, this is treason and action will be taken against those involved in this. Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign.”

Meanwhile, a bus carrying Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and other INDIA bloc MPs was heading towards Jantar Mantar.

Congress MPs Amarinder Singh Raja Warring, Deepender Singh Hooda, Imran Pratapgarhi and Imran Masood were seen climbing atop the bus.

Earlier in the day, Congress president Kharge hosted a lunch meeting for INDIA bloc leaders at a restaurant in Janpath.

Addressing reporters after the meeting, Kharge said: “Today, we will hold a sit-in protest at Jantar Mantar. Until our demands are met, we will continue to hold such protests.”