Will continue to chant 'azadi' slogans: UP Cong chief  

Daring UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to take action against him, state Congress president Ajay Kumar Lallu on Sunday said he will continue to chant "azadi" slogans.

He said this while referring to Adityanath's warning to anti-CAA protesters that "azadi" slogans will be treated as sedition. "I will raise the slogan of freedom from hunger and corruption. If the chief minister wants, he can lodge a complaint of sedition against me," Lallu told reporters here. Lallu added that the state government was free to file a case against him but he would continue to seek freedom from problems faced by farmers and women.

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Lallu also termed the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) unconstitutional, saying it was against Articles 14, 16 and 21 of the Constitution. On Union Home Minister Amit Shah's statement that the legislation would not be withdrawn, the state Congress chief said, "Shah is speaking like a dictator."

A time would come when people would give a befitting reply to such assertions, he added. Terming the CAA a distraction from major issues, Lallu said the rural income was on the decline but the government did not make any efforts to bridge the gap.

The Govt is trying to silence students, women and the common man by registering cases against them, he alleged. He said even activists of the Congress and other parties were sent to jail despite peaceful demonstrations against the CAA-NRC in Lucknow. He claimed that the Congress would continue to raise issues of unemployed, farmers, women, poor and students.

Lallu also accused the state government of involvement in the Rs 2,600-crore scam under which power employees' provident fund (PF) was reportedly invested in the scam-hit Dewan Housing Finance Corporation Limited (DHFL). 

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