Cong to protest across country over right-wing party leaders shooting at Gandhi's effigy

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.

Last week, on January 30, the day that marks the death anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a video had gone viral in which members of the right-wing party, Hindu Mahasabha, including one of its woman leaders, were purportedly seen firing at Gandhi's effigy in Aligarh with an air pistol.

Godse was a member of the Mahasabha.

Following an uproar, police on Wednesday registered cases against 13 persons.