Rahul Gandhi offers prayers at Golden Temple in Amritsar

Amritsar (Punjab) [India]: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Monday today offered prayers at the Golden Temple in Amritsar.

The Congress MP will also participate in volunteer service at the Sachkhand Shri Harmandir Sahib.

Earlier today, Punjab Congress president Raja Waring said that Rahul Gandhi is on his personal, spiritual visit.

“Rahul Gandhi ji is coming to Amritsar Sahib to pay obeisance at Sachkhand Shri Harmandir Sahib. This is his personal, spiritual visit, let’s respect his privacy. Request all party workers to not be physically present for this visit. You all can show your support in spirit and meet him the next time,” the Punjab Congress president posted on X (Formerly Twitter).

Rahul Gandhi’s visit to Punjab comes after the arrest of Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira in connection with a 2015 drugs case as a ‘political vendetta’.

A Punjab court on Saturday sent Congress MLA Sukhpal Singh Khaira to 14-day judicial custody in connection with a 2015 drugs case.

“The police demanded a 7-day remand. After seeing the police’s evidence, the judge turned down their request. The court sent him to judicial remand of 14 days,” the counsel said.

Congress MLA Khaira was arrested from his Chandigarh residence on Thursday morning in connection with an old case registered in 2015 under the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances (NDPS) Act.

The Aam Aadmi Party and Congress– members of the opposition’s INDIA bloc– have been at loggerheads in the border state over the arrest of Khaira.

While the Congress is calling it vindictive politics of AAP, the ruling party is terming the development as part of their “zero-tolerance policy” against drugs.

Earlier in 2015, there were two cases originated with the unearthing of a cross-border drug smuggling network in Fazilka, Punjab, leading to the seizure of heroin, gold biscuits, weapons, cartridges, and Pakistani SIM cards and the second of a fake passport racket being run in Delhi.

On February 16, 2023, a Supreme Court bench of Justices BR Gavai and Vikram Nath quashed the summoning order against Khaira in the drugs case.