Congress president Sonia Gandhi meets President Pranab Mukherjee over rising ‘intolerance’

NEW DELHI: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday made a “courtesy call” on President Pranab Mukherjee, seen by political circles as the precursor to her sounding Congress’ bugle of a full-fledged confrontation with the Modi government over the issue of “growing intolerance” in the country.

The All India Congress Committee (AICC) quickly backed her up by calling Prime Minister Modi “the endorser of intolerance” even as Gandhi is scheduled to lead a march of top party leaders comprising vice-president Rahul Gandhi and other AICC general secretaries, Congress Working Committee members and MPs on Tuesday — from Parliament House to Rashtrapati Bhavan — to collectively register the party’s concern about the “growing intolerance” with the President and unleash it as the latest Opposition plank to take on the NDA regime, beyond the Bihar elections and right into the winter session of Parliament.

While party sources described Gandhi meeting President on Monday as a “courtesy call”, pointing out how she had to keep away, due to indisposition, from the banquet the President hosted for visiting African leaders last week, the AICC is busy with the preparation for Tuesday’s road march. Incidentally, Gandhi had taken out a similar road march — along with other opposition leaders from Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan — before the party escalated its fight against the land Bill, eventually stalling it. Ahead of Gandhi’s meeting with the President, AICC fielded party’s deputy leader in Rajya Sabha Anand Sharma to launch an attack on the PM. “Eminent persons from all walks of life, be it authors, historians, scientist or rating agencies are expressing their concern over the growing trend of intolerance under the Modi regime. Instead of assuring the nation, PM Modi is acting as the endorser of intolerance,” Sharma said. He also tried to counter Modi’s reminder at a campaign rally of the 1984 anti-Sikh riots, by recollecting the 2002 Gujarat riots. “The PM is trying to reopen a 31-year old the wound for electoral purpose. But he should know, the Congress government had called in the Army to quell the riots of 194 within hours. Whereas, in 2002 the Modi’s government in Gujarat didn't heed his own party's Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee's advice to perfoerm raj dharma. Modi should look into his own backyard before accusing others,” Sharma said.