Cong. to protest across country over shooting at Gandhi’s effigy

New Delhi, Feb. 3 (PTI): The Congress will stage protests across the country on Monday over the alleged firing at an effigy of Mahatma Gandhi on his death anniversary by suspected members of Hindu Mahasabha in Uttar Pradesh, the party said. Talking to reporters here on Sunday, Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera alleged the incident, an enactment of the Mahatma’s assassination, reflects that BJP governments at the Centre and in the state have been quietly supporting the act. In Delhi, Congress MPs are also likely to protest outside the Gandhi statue in Parliament Complex on Monday. “There is a difference between the words and deeds of the BJP and its governments. The government’s affection has always been with (Nathuram) Godse (who killed Gandhi). “The Congress condemns this act and will protest against firing at the effigy of Mahatma Gandhi on Monday in which all the PCC (state unit) chiefs will participate,” he said. In the national capital, the protest is likely to be led by the recently appointed Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee and former chief minister Sheila Dixit at Raj Ghat, a memorial dedicated to the father of the nation.