Congress top brass to meet on anti-CAA protests

The Congress top brass will meet at the residence of interim party President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday to assess the situation amidst protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act swelling up across the country.

The Congress has planned a march on Dec 22 at Jaipur to be led by Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and plans are in to rope former party chief Rahul Gandhi in its protests.

Amidst countrywide protests against the CAA, the Congress, which has not been directly involved in the agitation, on Friday attacked the Modi government for using "brute force to suppress dissent" and said that it stood by the students and protesting citizens.

In a video message, Sonia Gandhi said that the Congress expresses deep concern and anguish on the use of force against students and citizens of the country and stands in solidarity with them.

"In a democracy, people have the right to raise their voice against wrong decisions and policies of the government and register their concerns... The BJP government has shown utter disregard for people's voices and chosen to use brute force to suppress dissent.

"This is unacceptable in a democracy and the Congress condemns the use of violence and expresses solidarity. The CAA is discriminatory and the proposed NRC will target the poor and vulnerable sections of the society," she has said.

At a meeting of the party's core group on Thursday, many leaders, including General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi, had suggested that the party should support the anti-CAA agitation.

( With inputs from IANS )