Cong to Launch Nationwide Agitation to Corner Govt on Inflation, NEET, CBSE Issues

The Congress on Thursday said it will fight the rejection of its MP candidate Meenakshi Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls legally as well as politically, and announced that it will soon launch a nationwide agitation over the issues of inflation, NEET paper leak and CBSE OSM row.

Sources said the Congress agitation would begin from June end and continue for two-three months.

These issues were discussed at a meeting of the Congress' top brass with general secretaries, in-charges and state unit chiefs here.

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, former party chief Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretaries Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, K C Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Bhupesh Baghel, in-charges, PCC chiefs, among others, participated in the meeting.

Congress general secretary in-charge communications Ramesh said the meeting was held for about three hours and several issues were deliberated upon.

Addressing a press conference along with Ramesh, Congress general secretary organisation K C Venugopal said the latest happenings in Jharkhand and Madhya Pradesh are the cause of "great worry".

He said what happened in Madhya Pradesh is "seat chori".

"There is no criminal case against Meenakshi Natarajan. In Jharkhand a BJP-backed person's nomination was allowed despite him leaving two columns empty. It was wrong but it was accepted," Venugopal said.

This shows the "pathetic condition of Indian democracy", Venugopal said.

"Today's meeting discussed the matter in detail. We will fight this issue politically and legally," Venugopal said on the rejection of Natarajan's nomination.

Venugopal also dismissed media reports of a possible merger between the Congress and TMC.

The Congress on Wednesday took up with the Election Commission the issue of rejection of Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls, saying the order was "egregious" and should be set aside immediately.

A delegation of top party leaders, including Venugopal, Ramesh, Abhishek Singhvi, Vivek Tankha, Randeep Surjewala, Bhupesh Baghel and Deepa Dasmunshi, along with Natarajan, had met the Commission and demanded that the decision should be reversed.

"This is a subversion of democracy....We still have full faith in constitutional institutions. That is why we are fighting this battle," Natarajan had told reporters after the Congress delegation met the EC officials.

In a post in Hindi on X, Kharge referred to the meeting and said the country is facing serious challenges such as inflation, unemployment, exam scandals, and social inequality.

"Paper leaks in NEET and various recruitment exams, along with controversies related to the education system, have shaken the trust of millions of youth and their families. Shri Rahul Gandhi has personally met with affected students and youth and has firmly presented their voice before the nation," Kharge, who presided over the meeting, said.

"Today, unfortunately, we see that those institutions and systems which took decades to build are being deliberately weakened. Therefore, our responsibility is not only toward political struggle, but also toward safeguarding India's Constitution, democracy, and social justice," he asserted.

The meeting comes amid a row over the issue of rejection of Natarajan's nomination for the Rajya Sabha polls.

It also comes in the wake of the TMC political crisis with many of its MPs and MLAs staging a revolt.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and Trinamool Congress national general secretary Abhishek Banerjee held a meeting here on Wednesday, amid efforts by the opposition INDIA bloc to strengthen coordination and maintain unity.

The meeting at 10 Janpath took place a day after Trinamool Congress supremo Mamata Banerjee met former Congress president Sonia Gandhi at her residence and discussed ways to further consolidate the opposition alliance.

Also, earlier this week, INDIA bloc members met here and unanimously decided to demand Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan's immediate resignation over the NEET-CBSE row. They also decided to write to the chief justice of India on the SIR exercise and vote loot.