Mehangai Par Halla Bol rally is to wake up government to the plight of people: Congress

‘Government busy buying MLAs and toppling Opposition-led governments’

Congress leaders Jairam Ramesh, K.C. Venugopal and Ajay Maken addressing the media ahead of the Halla Bol Rally, in New Delhi on September 3, 2022. | Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

.Accusing the Narendra Modi government of being "insensitive" to the pain of the common people due to "back-breaking" price rise, the Congress claimed that its Mehangai Par Halla Bol rally on Sunday at Delhi's historic Ram Lila Maidan aims to wake the government up.

Ahead of the Sunday rally, general secretaries K.C. Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Ajay Maken, Shaktisinh Gohil and Delhi Congress chief Anil Chaudhary addressed a joint press conference.

The Congress leaders said the Modi government was busy toppling Opposition-led governments instead of rectifying the "wrong policies" of the government.

Mr. Venugopal said former Congress chief Rahul Gandhi would send a strong message to the nation through the rally, where Mr. Gandhi is the principal speaker.

"This government is totally insensitive. You can compare the prices between 2014 and 2022. How the prices of essential commodities have shot up," he told reporters at a press conference at the Ramlila Maidan.

"As a responsible Opposition party, we are taking to the streets against the issue of price rise and unemployment. The government is not bothered about these issues and its one-point agenda is only to buy MLAs and topple Opposition governments," he alleged.

Mr. Ramesh said the party has been protesting against the "back-breaking" inflation for the past one year, including observing a Black Day on August 5 during which all senior leaders and MPs were arrested.

Mr. Maken alleged that the government was only concerned about helping its “crony capitalist friends”. Corporate taxes had come down at the expenses of the common people who were paying higher taxes on fuel, food and all essential commodities.

Party workers from Delhi, Haryana, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, besides other parts of the country, will participate in it.

The rally comes ahead of the Opposition party's 3,500-km "Bharat Jodo Yatra" from Kanyakumari to Kashmir starting September 7, highlighting the issues of price rice and unemployment, and promoting communal harmony.