New Delhi: The Congress hit out against Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government after its party leader Pawan Khera was deplaned and arrested by Assam Police at Delhi airport on Thursday.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the Modi government of turning India’s democracy into ‘Hitlershahi,’ while senior leader and MP Shashi Tharoor described the move as ‘harassment pure and simple-Modi style’.
“When the opposition raises issues in Parliament, they are given notices. On the eve of our plenary session, raids are conducted on our leaders in Chhattisgarh. Today, our media department chairman was forcibly deplaned and arrested. The Modi government has converted India’s democracy into a Hitlershahi. We strongly condemn this dictatorship,” tweeted Kharge.
Several Congress leaders had boarded a Delhi-Raipur IndiGo flight this morning to attend the party’s plenary session scheduled at the Chhattisgarh capital from February 24 to 26. But before the flight could take off, Khera was asked to deplane allegedly in connection with multiple FIRs filed against him for his comments on Modi.
All Congress leaders deboarded the aircraft and protested on the tarmac.
Tharoor termed the action outrageous and said Khera has done nothing ‘warranting deplaning, arrest or detention.’
“If all they can accuse him of is a joke about the PM, this is flagrant overreach. We have no crime of ‘lese-majeste’ in India. How can you arrest a political figure for a verbal barb?” Tharoor tweeted.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh stated that action against Khera was a new example of PM Modi’s politics of “vendetta, harassment and intimidation.”
The Supreme Court later granted Khera interim bail and directed Assam and UP Police – under whose jurisdiction several FIRs have been filed – to club all FIRs before it hears the matter next week.
Last week, Khera took a jibe at Modi over his alleged proximity to under-fire business tycoon Gautam Adani and referred to the PM as ‘Narendra Gautamdas Modi,’ instead of ‘Narendra Damodardas Modi’. Damodardas Modi is the PM’s late father.
The BJP was up in arms over Khera’s insult directed at Modi.
Khera later said he “genuinely got confused” whether it is Damodardas or Gautam Das.
