Congress' bid to 'save democracy': Rahul, other MPs detained, Priyanka sits on dharna

In dramatic scenes, Congress leaders started marching from their party headquarters to the Rashtrapati Bhavan to lodge their protests on issues like unemployment, price rise, Goods and Services Tax (GST), alleged attack on democracy.

After the Congress leaders were detained, party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra jostled with police, climbed the barricade and sat on a dharna.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi was earlier seen protesting in Parliament.

What did Rahul say in the morning press conference?

1. "All that were created in 70 years have been demolished in just eight years. There is no democracy in Hindustan."

2. "The dictatorship of only four people is running in the country. We want to raise the issues of inflation, unemployment, and divisive politics."

3. "On one hand, we are not allowed to speak in Parliament, on the other we face arrests on the streets while protesting. This is the situation in our country."

4. "Unemployment is highest in India. The inflation is uncontrollable. We are not sure whether the Finance Minister (Nirmala Sitharaman) has these figures or whether she has been instructed to speak whatever she feels like."

5. "They fight with the Gandhi family because we, like crores of people in the country, fight for one ideology. We fight for democracy and communal harmony."

BJP's response

Hitting back at Rahul, Union Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said, "A corrupt system was Congress' democracy."

"Now no doors are open for the middlemen in the corridors of power led by Narendra Modi ji," the BJP veteran said and added, "The Congress and its corrupt system are troubled by this. Their woes are visible in the words of Rahul Gandhi."