The Delhi Congress on Friday held a demonstration in front of Red Fort against the Central Government's decision to lease the monument to a private party for maintenance, the party said in a statement.
Delhi Congress president Ajay Maken said all the party workers contributed Rs 5 each as a symbolic protest into a box kept at the venue. This money will be then sent to Prime Minister's Relief Fund with a message for using it for the maintenance of the Red Fort.
Addressing the demonstrators, Maken exhorted the workers to keep on fight to protect the Red Fort. Maken said it was indeed very shameful that the Modi Government, which could spend Rs 3,000 crore for self publicity, cannot find Rs 5 crore for the maintenance of the heritage like the Red Fort, which is part of the great cultural history of the country.
Former Minister in the Delhi government Haroon Yusuf and Maken made the first contribution of Rs 5 to the donation box. DPCC chief spokesperson Sharmistha Mukherjee, Prahlad Singh Sahni, Kanwar Karan Singh, and a large number of party workers also participated in demonstration.
Maken said the Red Fort is not only a cultural heritage but also a symbolic sign of the country which has been printed on the Indian currency.
When the British captured the Red Fort on September 20, 1857, the Congress workers unleashed a relentless fight lasting 90 years to free India from the British rule, and flew the Indian national flag atop lal Quila after Independence, said Maken.
He further said that on August 15, 1947, first Prime Minister of the country Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru mounted the Indian national flag atop it and addressed crores of people of the country. He said the Prime Minister of India addresses the people of India from the Red Fort as it is a symbol of great heritage and culture of the country.