The police on Wednesday resorted to a lathi-charge against the Congress workers in Nagpur and detained several of its leaders, including Ashok Chavan, Sanjay Nirupam and Randeep Surjewala in Mumbai, as the party staged protests in the two cities demanding the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel over demonetisation.
The police caned Congress workers, led by former Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan and leader of the Opposition in the State Assembly Radhakrishna Vikhe-Patil, in front of the RBI office in Nagpur, when they staged protests against demonetisation.
The police action after some protesters broke the make-shift barriers and barged into the RBI building. Some party workers suffered minor injuries in the lathi-charge.
The Congress leaders, including Chavan, Vikhe-Patil and Vilas Muttemwar, demanded the suspension of policemen who resorted to lathi-charge against the protesters. In a related development, the police detained several Congress leaders including Chavan, Nirupam and Surjewala, when the party staged protests in front of the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus (CST) in south Mumbai.
The Congress functionaries staged a protest rally outside CST, after they were prevented by the police to head towards RBI headquarters located in the nearby Fort area.
The protestors raised vociferous slogans against the Modi government and demanded the resignation of RBI Governor Urjit Patel over demonetization.
Addressing the Congress workers’ rally, Maharashtra Pradesh Congress Committee president Ashok Chavan charged that while RBI Governor Urjit Governor Urjit Patel had become a puppet in the hands of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, while RBI had become a branch of the RSS.
Accusing Modi of having finished the autonomy of the RBI, Chavan said: “Modi is holding the people of the country to ransom. He has finished the autonomy of RBI. The Prime Minister has taken fuyll control of RBI and Urjit Patel is acting under the dictates of Modi. If anything, the RBI has become a branch office of RSS”.
Talking to media persons at the Congress’ south Mumbai office “Gandhi Bhavan”, Surjewala said: “Though 70 days have passed since the Prime Minister announced the demonetization, the Government has not withdrawn the restrictions on the withdrawal of money from banks. The Government should withdraw all the restrictions on withdrawals forthwith and come out with a white paper on demonetization”.