Nagpur: Several Youth Congress workers were detained while marching towards RSS’ Smruti Mandir in Reshimbagh on Wednesday to protest an FIR against Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand. The FIR was filed over his “purification” remarks on a ritual performed after a rally of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge.The “Samvidhan Samman Yatra”, led by Youth Congress state president Shivraj More and state co-in charge Navjyot Singh Sandhu, started from Great Nag Road towards Reshimbagh. Police had barricaded the approach road to Smruti Mandir.Workers climbed the barricades and raised slogans, triggering chaos. Ramtek MP Shyam Barve, who joined the march, said, “We had come peacefully to hand the Constitution to the RSS office but they used the police and administration to stop us. This is a frightened govt. That’s why it puts the police in front instead of facing us.”“Khargeji was disrespected and an FIR was registered against Rahul ji. If BJP and RSS think there was nothing wrong with this, why won’t they openly condemn it? A person should be identified by their ability, not caste. Whether a place is considered impure or pure because of someone’s caste, that mindset itself is unconstitutional,” Barve said.Congress’ Nagpur city president Prafulla Gudadhe said the workers would remain at the spot if denied entry. “But under no circumstances will we back down. We will enter the RSS office and hand them a copy of the Constitution,” he said.Guardian minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule called the march a “cheap publicity” stunt, saying grievances should be taken up with the collector or chief minister’s office.“Why do you have to go to the RSS and protest? Don’t you know the protocol for registering a protest? Authorities are there, reach out to them. Or come to me and express your concern, but don’t do such frivolous things for publicity,” Bawankule told reporters in Mumbai.
