Thiruvananthapuram, Aug 31 (IANS) Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan on Monday strongly condemned the FIR registered against Leader of the Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi by the Uttarakhand Police, describing it as a deeply disturbing development and accusing the authorities of attempting to criminalise dissent.
In a post on X, Satheesan said the issue raised by LoP Rahul Gandhi was serious, pointing to the alleged “purification” ritual conducted at Haldwani’s Ramlila Ground after Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a rally there.
Such an act, he said, naturally raised grave questions about dignity, equality and caste discrimination.
“Instead of addressing these concerns, an FIR has been registered against Rahul ji for speaking out and demanding action,” Satheesan said. He strongly objected to what he described as an attempt to silence dissent through legal action.
“Political disagreement must be answered politically, not through intimidation and misuse of the law,” he said, adding that Kerala stood firmly with LoP Rahul Gandhi and Kharge.
The Chief Minister’s intervention comes as the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) moves to take the issue to the streets.
The KPCC will organise a protest march at 6 p.m. on Monday from the Palayam Martyrs’ Column to the AG’s Office in Thiruvananthapuram, protesting the Uttarakhand Police action against LoP Rahul Gandhi.
The Congress has made the alleged purification ritual a larger issue of caste discrimination and equality, arguing that the reported act following Kharge’s rally could not be viewed merely as a political or religious gesture when it was linked to the identity and presence of a Dalit Congress leader.
LoP Rahul Gandhi had raised the issue publicly and demanded action over the incident.
The subsequent FIR has now intensified the political confrontation, with the Congress questioning whether raising concerns over discrimination can itself become grounds for criminal proceedings.
The KPCC protest is expected to bring senior Congress leaders and workers together in the state capital, allowing the party to turn the Uttarakhand incident into a wider campaign against what it describes as the suppression of dissent.
With Satheesan taking a clear position and the state Congress leadership moving into protest mode, the FIR against LoP Rahul Gandhi is set to reverberate far beyond Uttarakhand.
–IANS
sg/dan