FIR against Rahul Gandhi, two MPs over Parliament protest

Varanasi Police registered an FIR against Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, Independent MP Pappu Yadav and SP MP Awadhesh Prasad over allegations of hurting religious sentiments during an Opposition protest in Parliament featuring a Ram Temple donation theft-themed skit

Varanasi (UP): Varanasi Police on Saturday registered a case against Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and two other MPs for allegedly insulting Sanatan Dharma and hurting religious sentiments during an opposition protest in Parliament, an official said.

According to Gaurav Banswal, Deputy Commissioner of Police, Kashi Zone, an FIR was filed based on a formal complaint submitted at Kotwali police station by some seers alleging that Lok Sabha MPs Rahul Gandhi, Pappu Yadav and Awadhesh Prasad have insulted Sanatan Dharma in Parliament.

---

Rajesh Ranjan, popularly known as Pappu Yadav, is an Independent MP from Purnia constituency in Bihar, while Awadhesh Prasad is the Samajwadi Party MP from Faizabad seat in Uttar Pradesh. Seer Jagatguru Balak Das said the manner in which Pappu Yadav insulted Lord Ram and Sanatan Dharma in the House was unforgivable. “No follower of Sanatan Dharma can forget this act. It has hurt our religious sentiments. So we have demanded that a case be registered,” he said.

On Friday, INDIA bloc MPs, including Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and former party president Rahul Gandhi, held a protest against the donation theft at Ram Temple in Ayodhya as well as the police action against student agitators during their July 20 Parliament march.

The opposition MPs enacted a skit to highlight the temple donation theft. As part of this, they placed donation boxes in front of the stairs leading to the Makar Dwar of Parliament. The MPs, including Rahul Gandhi, put money into the boxes, while a saffron-clad Pappu Yadav, who sat near the boxes, slipped it into his pockets. The INDIA bloc MPs also demanded Home Minister Amit Shah’s resignation and questioned his absence from House proceedings.

The lawmakers raised slogans such as “Amit Shah istifa do”, “Amit Shah sadan mein aao” and “Chadhawa chor, gaddi chorh”. Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Samajwadi Party’s Awadhesh Prasad and Dharmendra Yadav, and Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Mahua Maji were among those who participated in the protest, standing behind a big banner that read, “Amit Shah sadan se gayab kyun?”