AICC general secretary Saptagiri Ulaka praises Rahul Gandhi's efforts to safeguard Constitution

Agartala, Aug 30 (PTI) AICC general secretary Saptagiri Ulaka on Saturday praised party leader Rahul Gandhi for his consistent efforts to "safeguard the Constitution and democracy" in the country.

Addressing the state-level ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally at Radhanagar here, Ulaka said the people who claimed they would rule this country for the next 50 years are now terrified of their future.

"They (BJP) declared they would win 400-plus seats in the last Lok Sabha elections and even change the country’s constitution, but they fell well short of that target. Because of this fear, the ruling government has been using central agencies to put pressure on opposition parties," he added.

"Around 95 per cent of the total cases initiated by central agencies were against opposition parties, yet the conviction rate remains at zero," Ulaka said, adding that the party was confident that the results in Maharashtra and Haryana did not reflect the true will of the people.

Speaking about the ongoing ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ campaign, Ulaka said a party survey on the Bengaluru Parliamentary seat had identified the "vote chor" (vote thief), prompting Rahul Gandhi to launch the rally in Bihar.

Ulaka urged the people to strengthen the hands of Gandhi because he has been working to safeguard the constitution and democracy.

"The Congress will not remain silent if the BJP steals votes with the help of the Election Commission. That's why the party has launched the statewide 'Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod' rallies", he said.

Ulaka also expressed his frustration with the last-minute venue change for the rally.

The ‘Vote Chor, Gaddi Chhod’ rally was initially scheduled to be held in front of the statue of Mahatma Gandhi (Circuit House), but police denied permission on the grounds of law and order. Eventually, we were allowed to address the rally at Radhanagar, under tight security".

Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee (TPCC) president Asish Kumar Saha claimed the party has started gaining strength as people want to teach a lesson to the BJP.

Senior Congress MLA Sudip Roy Barman was seen engaged in a heated exchange of words with police officials for not allowing the party to organise the rally at the scheduled venue.

However, BJP state vice-president Papia Dutta described Roy Barman's behaviour with police as a drama.

"The Congress MLA might have planned to create chaos at the Circuit House, where BJP workers were already worshiping Lord Ganesh with prior permission. I heard the police didn’t grant permission to Congress. Now, he’s staged this drama to grab media attention." PTI PS MNB