Sonia Gandhi, Rahul to lead Congress march against intolerance today

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi will request President Pranab Mukherjee to invoke his constitutional powers to stem the "atmosphere of intolerance" across the country.

New Delhi: Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, vice president Rahul Gandhi and other party leaders will on Tuesday march from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan to request President Pranab Mukherjee to invoke his constitutional powers to stem the "atmosphere of intolerance" across the country.

The Gandhis and other party leaders will plead with the President that as head of the nation, he should ensure an end to "the atmosphere of intolerance, intemperate behaviour, violence and communal polarisation", news agency PTI quoted Congress sources as saying.

Members of the Congress Working Committee, AICC General Secretaries and office-bearers and party MPs will be part of the delegation meeting the President, who has repeatedly sought to underline the need to preserve India's core values of diversity, tolerance, and plurality.

The move by the main opposition party came in the backdrop of protests by artistes, writers and scientists over alleged "rising intolerance" reflected in the Dadri lynching, beef row and other such incidents.

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi had met the President in this regard yesterday.

The duo were in talks for about half-an-hour during which they are understood to have discussed the current political situation.

Congress sources had, however, described it as a courtesy call.

BJP and Congress had on Monday locked horns over the issue of intolerance in the society, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying the Congress president had no moral right to lecture the NDA on tolerance and it should "hang its head in shame" for the 1984 anti-Sikh riots where thousands were massacred.

Congress hit back, contending like in 2002 post-Godhra violence, Modi has "forgotten Rajdharma" in 2015 too as he was an "endorser of intolerance by his studied silence" over acts of hate and violence.

(With PTI inputs)