Congress stages dharna near Odisha Raj Bhavan

Bhubaneswar: Opposition Congress in Odisha led by state unit president Sarat Pattnayak on Thursday staged a peaceful agitation near Raj Bhavan here protesting against the ED's repeated questioning of Rahul Gandhi and alleged police excess at the party headquarters in the national capital.

Pattnayak accused the BJP-led government at the Centre of attempting to silence Gandhi who, he claimed, has been raising the voices of the poor and downtrodden.

The Congress activists



started their rally from near the Additional District Magistrate's Office here and reached the Raj Bhavan shouting slogans against the Narendra Modi government.

They later sat on a Dharna as part of the party's decision to state units to intensify the agitation over ED questioning Gandhi.

Gandhi has been facing the ED's questioning for three days in connection with the money laundering probe linked to the National Herald newspaper.