New Delhi: Congress on Tuesday launched an attack on Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi over the detention of 200-odd party workers in the state as they tried to march to the Assembly, saying this was an example of what democracy meant to "BJP`s PM-in-waiting".
"Glimpse of Modified Gujarat Assembly: Morning opposition MLAs suspended. Now all press/media entry banned. #shame," tweeted party general secretary and communication department chairman, Ajay Maken.
Congress also created a hashtag `#shame` to criticise the Gujarat government`s action as over 200 Congressmen, including prominent state leaders, were today detained in Ahmedabad for allegedly violating a notification which denied them permission to take out a rally to the Gujarat Assembly.
Modi was recently named BJP`s prime ministerial candidate for the Lok Sabha polls in 2014.
Senior party leader Digvijay Singh, a known detractor of Modi`s, tweeted "GUJARAT ASSEMBLY - Whole Opposition suspended PRESS- Debarred from Reporting LOK AYUKT BILL to investigate corruption drafted by CM passed."
In another tweet, in which he made a direct attack on Modi, Singh said, "this is what democracy means to BJP`s PM in waiting. Would Sushmaji (Sushma Swaraj) and Jaitleyji (Arun Jaitley) like this to be followed in Parliament?".
Congress had organised a youth gathering in Ahmedabad after which the participants started marching towards the Assembly, prompting police to stop them saying they had permission for the public meeting only, not a rally.
Police resorted to a mild lathicharge to deter the group, which led to a commotion at the venue after which Congress leaders, including state unit chief Arjun Modhwadia, leader of opposition Shankarsinh Vaghela and former CLP chief Siddarth Patel, were detained alongwith 14 MLAs.
The public gathering, organised by Youth Congress and National Students` Union of India (NSUI), the party`s youth wing, was to highlight the extensive corruption, commercialisation of education and large-scale unemployment witnessed over the last two decades, the time during which BJP has been in power in the state.
PTI
