The Congress workers arrested in an alleged rioting case were remanded in judicial custody in Gujarat's Ahmedabad hours before party leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in the state on a daylong visit. On Saturday Rahul Gandhi during his address in Ahmedabad said that his party will defeat the BJP in Gujarat in the next election the same way it did in Ayodhya in the recent Lok Sabha polls.
Congress will defeat BJP in Gujarat: The Leader of Opposition(LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi made the remark while addressing a party workers' convention in Ahmedabad.
"They (BJP) have challenged us by threatening us and damaging our office. Let me tell you that we are together going to break their government like they damaged our office. Take it in writing that Congress will contest in Gujarat and defeat Narendra Modi and BJP in Gujarat like we did in Ayodhya," Rahul Gandhi was quoting by PTI as having said.
He said Congress will win Gujarat, and from the state it will make a new start.
He was referring to a clash that broke out between members of both Congress and BJP outside the Rajiv Gandhi Bhavan, Congress's state headquarters in Paldi area of Ahmedabad on July 2 after BJP's youth wing members came there to protest against Rahul Gandhi's remarks on Hindus.
Earlier, the party’s Gujarat president Shaktisinh Gohil said Rahul Gandhi will meet Congress workers at 12pm.
Rahul Gandhi is also scheduled to meet the families of Congress workers who were arrested by the Gujarat Police, following the clash.
The Congress office in Ahmedabad was vandalised in protest. Five Congress workers were arrested.
The BJP workers were protesting against Rahul Gandhi’s remarks in the Lok Sabha about BJP, which created a stir.
Arrested Cong workers Gandhi was set to meet shifted to jail from lock-up: Five Congress workers arrested in a rioting case were remanded in judicial custody in Ahmedabad before party leader Rahul Gandhi arrived in the state on a daylong visit.
Incidentally, Gandhi was supposed to meet them at Vasna police station here, where they were lodged, but police produced them in the court of Chief Judicial Magistrate BG Rathod in the morning at the end of their police remand.
The five have been shifted to Sabarmati central jail, Vasna police station inspector Rahul Patel said.
Congress MLA Imran Khedawala said the police produced the five party workers in court in the morning though their remand was to end at 4pm.
The party's legal cell approached Sabarmati central jail and sought permission for Gandhi to meet these five workers but it is unlikely to be processed on such short notice, Khedawala said.
"Even if Rahul Gandhi is not able to meet the jailed party workers, he will surely meet their family members," Khedawala said.
Other meeting of Rahul Gandhi in Gujarat: Rahul Gandhi during his visit to Ahmedabad, will also meet the family members of those who lost their lives in various tragedies in Gujarat in the recent past, including the Rajkot game zone fire, the boat capsize incident in Vadodara and Morbi bridge collapse.
"Rahul Gandhi will arrive at the GPCC office here around 12.30 pm. During his visit, he will meet and address party workers. He will also meet the kin of the victims who lost their lives in the Rajkot game zone fire and other such tragedies. He will also interact with the family members of those party workers who were arrested by the police after the clash," Gohil said.
The Congress leader also said he has received calls from many people from across Gujarat who have been wronged under the BJP rule.
“They said that Rahul Gandhi fights for justice. They said that they had faith in the BJP, but they have not received justice and they want to put forth their point in front of Rahul Gandhi…” Gohil told ANI.
