Union Home Minister Amit Shah on Saturday slammed the Congress over its "black protest" against price rise, saying the party chose this day because they want to give a "subtle message" to further promote their "appeasement politics" as it was on this day in 2020 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation of Ram Janambhoomi in Ayodhya.
"Congress chose this day for protest and wore black clothes because they want to give a subtle message to further promote their appeasement politics because on this day itself Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation of Ram Janambhoomi," Shah told news agency ANI.
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Congress today chose black as the colour of the protest. Black kurtas, black headgears, black scarves and black sarees were the sartorial choices the party leaders opted for as part of a novel protest to draw the government's attention to what they said was a "grim" economic situation in the country.
The 136-year-old party which is known for its traditional approach to protests sprang a surprise with what many saw as an out-of-the-box messaging by deciding to have black as the dress code for its nationwide protest against price rise, hike in GST on essential items and unemployment.
The most striking sartorial choice was by Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Malikarjun Kharge, who wore a black kurta, a black turban and a white dhoti, turning heads during the Congress protest.
While the male Congress MPs were seen sporting black kurtas, shirts, scarves, and headgears, the women leaders also wore black with elan led by party chief Sonia Gandhi who wore a printed crisp saree with a black border and a black blouse.
Rahul Gandhi, who addressed the press conference at the AICC headquarters in the morning wearing a white shirt and a black armband, changed to a black shirt for the protest in the Parliament complex and a subsequent march of party leaders to Rashtrapati Bhavan during which they were stopped and detained.
Priyanka Gandhi Vadra wore a black salwar suit as she staged a sit-in protest outside the AICC headquarters. Amid dramatic scenes, she was forcibly put in a vehicle by the police and taken away.
Former Union minister P Chidambaram and his son and MP Karti Chidambaram sported black shirts with white 'veshtis' (type of dhoti), while Shashi Tharoor was seen in all blacks -- kurta, trouser and 'Sadri'.
Congress leader in Lok Sabha Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Congress' deputy leader in Lok Sabha Gaurav Gogoi, K C Venugopal, Deepender Hooda, Naseer Hussain and Imran Pratapgarhi, among others, were also seen wearing black.
(With PTI inputs)
