Congress President Sonia Gandhi, Vice President Rahul Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AK Antony, GN Azad were released after being briefly detained by the police on Friday as they launched a rally from Jantar Mantar to Parliament. The Congress leadership was taken to the Parliament Street Police Station.
"Life has taught me to struggle," Sonia Gandhi said in a fiery speech at Central Delhi's Jantar Mantar as the party launched a massive "Save Democracy" rally from the location to the Parliament.
"I want to say this to all these people, no matter how much you try to destroy the democracy, we will not let your dangerous plans succeed...I want to tell them that no matter what you accuse us of, we will not be afraid. If they think they can remove the Congress, then I'm afraid, they do not know what the Congress is made of," NDTV quoted Sonia Gandhi as saying.
Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh also made speeches at the rally, where hundreds of Congress workers gathered, before heading to Parliament.
"I am happy that to save democracy, you all have come out in this heat. Farmers are committing suicide. Latur, Bundelkhand and other places are burning, But PM Modi does not care. We have been seeing Make in India programs, we saw the big show in Mumbai, but how many people got employed? In the country today, only two people have a say: Mohan Bhagwat and Narendra Modi. No one dares to speak against them," NDTV quoted Rahul Gandhi as saying at the rally.
Singh attacked the BJP saying, "For the last 2 years, since the BJP has come to power, we see only one slogan - that of a 'Congress Mukt Bharat'. (Congress-free Bharat) But I would like to tell PM Modi and the BJP that the Congress is the soul of India. Many have tried to remove the Congress but have failed."
The Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party locked horns on Friday in Central Delhi's Jantar Mantar as Congress started its "Save Democracy" rally and the BJP countered it with a rally against corruption by the Gandhi family.