Rahul Gandhi, Ghulam Nabi Azad met President Ram Nath Kovind to seek withdrawal of farm laws. Several leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, and senior leader Randeep Singh Surjewala were detained.
Congress' march to Rashtrapati Bhavan was stopped by police. Rahul Gandhi proceeded to the Rashtrapati Bhawan to meet President Ram Nath Kovind with the signatures against farm laws and said the farmers will not budge from Delhi borders till the farm laws are repealed.
Coming out after meeting President Kovind, Rahul Gandhi said, "The Opposition stands with farmers. The protesting farmers will not stop the protest till the laws are repealed."
He added, "Government needs to convene a joint session of Parliament, If PM Modi does not take these farm laws back, the country will suffer. Anyone trying to take power from PM Modi will be dubbed as anti-national."
Rahul Gandhi also said that there is no democracy in India. "It is only in imagination, not in reality."
Terming government arrogant, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said, "Farmers need to be respected, it is a sin to brand them anti-nationals. The government is doing only its own politics and has no respect for farmers and jawans."
She added, "Government's responsibility to hear out farmers and redress their grievances. "
Earlier K Suresh had said, "Rahul Gandhi along with Opposition leaders met President and submitted the memorandum to resolve farmers' issue. But there was no action from the President and the government. Rahul Gandhi will lead demonstration tomorrow at 10:45 am from Vijay Chowk to Rashtrapati Bhavan with Congress MPs."
"After that, he and other senior leaders will meet the President of India and submit a memorandum containing 2 crore signatures for his intervention to resolve the farmers' agitation," he added.
The Congress has been supporting the farmer’s agitation and seeking the withdrawal of the Central farm legislations. A delegation of opposition leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, had met the president with the same demand a few days ago.
Around 2 crore farmers' signature have been collected from across the country, he said, while seeking the President's intervention for annulling the three legislations.
"A delegation of Congress MPs and leaders led by former Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be submitting a memoranda of appeal bearing these 2 crore signatures to the President on December 24, urging his intervention for annulling the three black laws," AICC General Secretary K C Venugopal said in a statement.
He said the Congress party had launched a nationwide campaign for collecting memoranda of appeals addressed to the President of India signed by the farmers, farm labourers and other stakeholders opposing these legislations right from the initial stage of introduction of these bills in Parliament.
Lakhs of farmers have been protesting in the freezing weather against the three "blatantly anti-agriculture" laws aimed at "bartering their interests in the hands of select crony capitalist friends of the (Narendra) Modi government", the AICC general secretary said.
The protesting farmers have been blocked from entering the national capital for the last 27 days despite prior notice and peaceful intent, he alleged.
"The three anti-farmers legislation have caused immense pain and anguish among the farmers and farm labourers across India. The farmers have been requesting the Government of India to annul these anti-farmers legislations and since the last few days, they are sitting on an indefinite strike," Venugopal said.
He said 44 farmers have already lost their lives during the ongoing protests.
The Congress along with other political parties had vehemently opposed the bills inside and outside Parliament. Rahul Gandhi and the Congress leaders undertook an extensive 'tractor yatra' across Punjab and Haryana, as also in different states, Venugopal said.
"The arrogant Modi government having initially duped the farmers' group by putting on a conciliatory face, soon made its intransigence apparent.
"It has become absolutely clear that the Modi Government is only committed to the welfare of large corporates instead of innocent farmers and farm labourers," he said in the statement.
The government has been on an overdrive using public money to create false propaganda and narrative in favour of the "draconian farmers' bills and discrediting the protesting farmers", he alleged.
The Congress leader also accused the government of pushing "manufactured surveys" in the media to create support in favour of these laws.
"From taking the government head-on in Parliament, where it blatantly and undemocratically suspended opposition MPs and labelled us as anti-national, the government has chosen to brazenly defame, discredit and eventually tire out the lakhs of protesting farmers. The Modi government and its ministers have chosen to insult them," Venugopal said.
With PTI inputs
