Bharat Bandh was implemented across several cities in India, including Bengaluru, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata.
After a long haul, Congress president Rahul Gandhi seemed to be ecstatic about carrying out the protests, demanding reduction in taxes that are causing the prices of fuel and commodities to skyrocket in the recent past.
However, there is an underlying story behind the move of the grand old party. In connection with the National Herald scam, Dr Subramanian Swamy had moved the court by filing a private criminal complaint against the Gandhis.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is of the opinion that this ‘bandh’ has been done to divert public attention from the case, since the Delhi HC rejected a plea filed by the Gandhis challenging the reassessment of tax files for the year 2011-12.
Sambit Patra, BJP spokesperson, called this fight against the family as “victory of the common man”, and termed it as a measure taken to expose the ‘real face’ of the Gandhi family.
Deccan Herald reported Dr Patra as telling PTI, "The whole (Gandhi) family today is known as a family who cheats, a family who goes for tax evasion, a family of corrupts and a family who conspires against the law of the land, a family which includes Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Robert Vadra and Priyanka Vadra.”
Also Read: National Herald Scam: Delhi High Court Throws Out Sonia, Rahul’s Plea Challenging Income Tax Notice