The Indian National Congress on Friday held nationwide protests against a range of issues, slamming the ruling BJP for the inflation and unemployment in the country.

While workers were seen protesting despite showers at the party’s headquarters in Delhi, a similar agitation was witnessed in Mumbai and Assam. The Parliament too, is seeing sloganeering by Opposition party leaders on the issue.

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Meanwhile, Congress leader and Wayanad MP Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were detained by police amid the protests. Earlier, Rahul had addressed a press conference on the protests, and Priyanka Gandhi had reached the site of the demonstration in Delhi to lend her support.

On Friday, the ruling Congress in Chhattisgarh staged protests across the state. In capital Raipur, the protest is being held at Ambedkar chowk where Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel, state Congress chief Mohan Markam and other senior leaders were present, said Dhananjay Singh Thakur, party’s state spokesperson.

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The police also used water cannons to disperse protesting Congress leaders and workers led by Punjab unit chief Amrinder Singh Raja Warring.

Wearing black clothes, Congress leaders hit the streets on Friday to protest against price rise and unemployment with a host of them, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, being detained by police amid dramatic standoffs outside Parliament and the AICC headquarters.

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The protesting MPs of the Opposition party raised slogans against the government demanding that the GST hike on essential items be withdrawn, with party chief Sonia Gandhi standing with the women MPs holding a banner outside gate number 1 of Parliament.

However, the protesters were stopped by the Delhi Police and not allowed to proceed towards the Rashtrapati Bhawan. Sonia Gandhi did not take part in the march. The other MPs were detained by police at Vijay Chowk.

In a video shot inside a police vehicle and shared by the Congress with reporters, Priyanka Gandhi said, “They think that by putting up a show of power, they can silence us and force us into a compromise. Why will we do that?”

“Their ministers cannot see the price rise, so we wanted to walk to the prime minister’s house and show him the high inflation, show him the gas cylinder the price of which is sky high,” she said.

Rahul Gandhi, senior Congress leaders KC Venugopal, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury and Gaurav Gogoi were among the 64 MPs detained and taken away from Vijay Chowk in a police bus. Talking to reporters at Vijay Chowk, Rahul Gandhi said, “We are here to raise the issue of price rise.” He also said “democracy is being murdered”.