Published Jun 11, 2026 | 3:15 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 11, 2026 | 3:15 PM
AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal.
Synopsis: The Congress has announced that it will launch a nationwide agitation over the next two to three months on issues including rising prices, unemployment, student distress and alleged threats to democracy. AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said the campaign would be carried out across the country and accused the BJP-led Union government of failing to address economic hardship, unemployment and concerns over education. He also said the Congress would fight the rejection of Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh.
The Congress will launch a nationwide agitation over the next two to three months against rising prices, unemployment, student distress and the alleged threats to democracy, AICC General Secretary (Organisation) KC Venugopal said on Thursday, 11 June. He also announced that the party would fight the rejection of Meenakshi Natarajan’s Rajya Sabha nomination from Madhya Pradesh politically and legally.
Addressing a press conference at the party headquarters after a three-hour meeting attended by AICC general secretaries, party in-charges, PCC presidents, Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, Venugopal said the agitation would be carried out at the national, state, district and block levels.
“We will not follow only the traditional methods of agitation. We will go directly to the people who are suffering, those who are facing hardship, and we will stand with them. We will share their pain and undertake extensive agitations to bring their voices to the national capital,” he said.
He said details of the programme would be finalised within the next three to five days. “Every Congress leader and worker should be on the ground and among the people,” he added.
The decision followed discussions on how repeated increases in the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG were causing distress to people, and the party accused the government of failing to respond adequately.
“People are under tremendous distress, yet there is no action from the government. Unemployment is widespread. The MSME sector has been severely affected. Young people are deeply worried about their future because there are no employment opportunities. Students are facing a very difficult situation. You can see this in the issues surrounding NEET and CBSE. Every family is in a deeply disappointed and distressed situation,” he said.
“The government is not taking responsibility for any of these issues. For how many days have we been demanding the resignation of the Education Minister? He is not coming forward at all. On one side, democracy itself is under threat. On the other, ordinary people are struggling to make a living under extremely difficult circumstances. The Prime Minister should be answerable to the people of this country on all these issues.”
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Venugopal alleged that the nomination of AICC Telangana in-charge Meenakshi Natarajan to the Rajya Sabha from Madhya Pradesh for the upcoming biennial elections had been rejected despite there being no criminal case against her.
“The reason given was that she did not disclose a notice sent by a court. There is no FIR, there is no charge sheet, and no charges have been framed. Yet her nomination was cancelled and rejected,” he said.
He further alleged that, in Jharkhand, a BJP-sponsored candidate’s nomination had been accepted despite deficiencies in the nomination papers.
“His name was not even properly mentioned in the relevant column. Two columns were not filled in at all. The nomination paper was completely incorrect, yet the Returning Officer accepted that nomination,” he said.
“On one side, you are rejecting the nomination of Meenakshi Natarajan in Madhya Pradesh without any valid grounds. On the other side, you are accepting a nomination despite so many discrepancies in the nomination papers. Can this type of democracy continue?”
Venugopal said the party had approached the Election Commission of India immediately after the developments came to light. He said party representatives were initially not permitted to enter and submit a complaint and were able to do so only after staging a dharna.
He said senior Congress leaders met Election Commission officials on Wednesday and presented their concerns, but no response had been received so far. “Therefore, we approached the Supreme Court. The case is coming up for hearing tomorrow,” he said.
Venugopal said a request for an urgent hearing in the Jharkhand matter had also not been granted by the Election Commission.
He alleged that the developments were clear evidence of electoral manipulation under the BJP government.
“This is the way they are trying to manufacture majorities. On one side, they are taking MPs from other parties, making them resign, and then bringing them in as BJP MPs. On the other side, this is happening after the voting process. This is a case of seat chori. This is a clear-cut case of electoral theft,” he said.
(Edited by Dese Gowda)
