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Congress Stages Protests in Hyderabad and Bengaluru Over FIR Against Rahul Gandhi

Congress workers in Hyderabad and Bengaluru demonstrated against an FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi over comments on 'shuddhikaran' in Uttarakhand. Leaders accused the central government of double standards and called for the FIR's withdrawal, with some questioning the treatment of party president Mallikarjun Kharge.

By Tertius News AI Desk 2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles Version 1 Coverage Sep 1–2, 2026 Published 3h ago

distinct = voices after wire copies and reprints of the same article collapse; mastheads = publisher names; articles = URLs

Protests in Hyderabad and Bengaluru

Congress party workers staged protests in Hyderabad and Bengaluru against an FIR filed against Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, over his comments on 'shuddhikaran' in Uttarakhand.

In Hyderabad, demonstrators gathered in front of the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund, demanding withdrawal of the FIR. The protest, organised by Khairatabad DCC president Motha Rohit, saw party workers raising slogans against the BJP-led central government, accusing it of double standards. Congress leaders at the rally said that instead of acting against those involved in the 'shuddhikaran', authorities were targeting Rahul Gandhi who had spoken against it.

Addressing the gathering, minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the shuddhikaran was an insult to democracy. "This act by those who follow manuvad brings disgrace to the nation's democracy and constitutional values. I strongly condemn the disrespectful treatment of Kharge," he said. Prabhakar added that such actions perpetuate caste discrimination and untouchability.

In Bengaluru, the Karnataka Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) held a protest at Freedom Park on September 2 against the FIR, which it termed "malicious." The protest was led by KPCC President K. Hariprasad, with former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, AICC Secretary Gopinath Palaniappan, KPCC Campaign Committee President Vinay Kumar Sorake, along with ministers, legislators, and other party leaders in attendance.

Leader Reactions

Karnataka Chief Minister K. Shivakumar addressed the gathering, asserting that the Congress would not be intimidated by threats or imprisonment. "We (Congress) are not afraid of jail. We are ready to face the threats. You cannot stop our voices from being raised," he said, adding that it was the duty of opposition parties to raise their voice for fundamental rights guaranteed by the Constitution.

Shivakumar also drew a historical parallel, saying, "This is not the British Raj. It was the Congress party that gave the country the Constitution, brought freedom and secured the right to speak." He condemned the action against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, describing it as "a serious insult to the social fabric of the country." He called for immediate withdrawal of the action and an apology, stating, "They should apologise to the country, not just to Kharge ji."

Karnataka Minister for Municipal Administration C. Balakrishna also criticised the action against Kharge and raised a pointed question: "What they have done with Mallikarjun Kharge... should we repeat the same with Prime Minister Modi? If they keep doing such acts, we have to do the same."

How each outlet told it

A framing line is our reading of that outlet's own text — an interpretation, not a quotation and not a fact we assert. Check it against what the outlet published.

Deccan Chronicle

Framing: The headline emphasizes the protest by Congress over the FIR against Rahul Gandhi. — sympathetic to the protesters and critical of the government

as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC

Facts Included:

Congress held a demonstration demanding withdrawal of the FIR against Rahul Gandhi
The FIR relates to Rahul Gandhi's comments on 'shuddhikaran' at a venue in Uttarakhand where Mallikarjun Kharge had held an event
Protesters sat in front of the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund
Protest was organized by Khairatabad DCC president Motha Rohit
Protesters accused the BJP-led Central government of double standards
Minister Ponnam Prabhakar said the shuddhikaran was an insult to democracy
Ponnam Prabhakar condemned the disrespectful treatment of Kharge
Prabhakar said such actions perpetuate caste discrimination and untouchability

Read the source article →

Lokmat Times

Framing: Headline emphasizes Congress's protest in Bengaluru and Shivakumar's condemnation of the FIR — sympathetic to the Congress, drawing on repeated quotes and support from leaders

as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

Facts Included:

KPCC staged a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru on Sep 2 against the FIR against Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand
Protest was led by KPCC President K. Hariprasad
Siddaramaiah, Gopinath Palaniappan, Vinay Kumar Sorake, Ministers, legislators and other Congress leaders participated
Karnataka CM K. Shivakumar said Congress would not be intimidated by threats or imprisonment
Shivakumar's quotes: 'We are not afraid of jail. We are ready to face the threats. You cannot stop our voices from being raised.'
Shivakumar's quote: 'This is not the British Raj. It was the Congress party that gave the country the Constitution, brought freedom and secured the right to speak.'
Shivakumar condemned the action against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, calling it a serious insult to the social fabric
Shivakumar's quote: 'This is a great insult to the social fabric of the country. This should not have happened. I think they should immediately withdraw it. They should apologise to the country, not just to Kharge ji.'
Minister C. Balakrishna questioned whether Congress should adopt a similar approach towards PM Modi
Balakrishna's quote: 'What they have done with Mallikarjun Kharge... should we repeat the same with Prime Minister Modi? If they keep doing such acts, we have to do the same.'

Read the source article →

What was claimed, and who backed it

AI-extracted; can misattribute a claim — see Methodology.

Each row is one claim, attributed to the outlet whose wording states it most clearly. Confidence rates how directly the source text states the claim — explicit and unhedged rates high; hedged, pieced-together, or internally inconsistent statements rate lower. It does not measure whether the claim is true. Status is Contested when two claims on this page negate each other; otherwise it counts the mastheads we found asserting that specific claim — so a single-source claim can still show high confidence, and a multi-source claim can show medium. Every one of those outlets is named beside the status, so you can check the count against the list. For claims extracted before we began storing that list, the row says so: it names the outlet the claim is quoted from and states that we have not recorded which outlets backed it. Outlets wrote at different times, so a figure that evolves — a casualty count, for example — can legitimately differ between rows; check the "as of" time next to each claim's source.

Claim	Confidence	Status
ClaimThe Congress held a demonstration in Hyderabad demanding withdrawal of the FIR filed against Rahul Gandhi for his comments on 'shuddhikaran' at a venue where Mallikarjun Kharge had held an event in Uttarakhand.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe FIR against Rahul Gandhi relates to his comments on 'shuddhikaran' performed at a venue in Uttarakhand where party president Mallikarjun Kharge had held an event.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimProtesters sat in front of the Ambedkar statue at Tank Bund in Hyderabad.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe Hyderabad protest was organized by Khairatabad DCC president Motha Rohit.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe Hyderabad protesters accused the BJP-led Central government of double standards.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimMinister Ponnam Prabhakar said the shuddhikaran was an insult to democracy.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimPonnam Prabhakar strongly condemned the disrespectful treatment of Kharge.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimPonnam Prabhakar said such actions perpetuate caste discrimination and untouchability.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Deccan Chronicle as of Sep 1, 2026, 7:47 PM UTC
ClaimThe KPCC staged a protest at Freedom Park in Bengaluru against the FIR registered against Rahul Gandhi in Uttarakhand.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimThe Bengaluru protest was led by KPCC President B.K. Hariprasad.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimSiddaramaiah, Gopinath Palaniappan, Vinay Kumar Sorake, ministers, legislators and other Congress leaders participated in the Bengaluru protest.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimKarnataka Chief Minister D.K. Shivakumar said the Congress would not be intimidated by threats or imprisonment and would continue to raise its voice for Constitutional rights.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimShivakumar said: 'We (Congress) are not afraid of jail. We are ready to face the threats. You cannot stop our voices from being raised.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimShivakumar said: 'This is not the British Raj. It was the Congress party that gave the country the Constitution, brought freedom and secured the right to speak.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimShivakumar condemned the action against Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, calling it a serious insult to the social fabric of the country.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimShivakumar said: 'This is a great insult to the social fabric of the country. This should not have happened. I think they should immediately withdraw it. They should apologise to the country, not just to Kharge ji.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimKarnataka Minister for Municipal Administration H.C. Balakrishna questioned whether the Congress should adopt a similar approach towards Prime Minister Narendra Modi.	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC
ClaimBalakrishna said: 'What they have done with Mallikarjun Kharge... should we repeat the same with Prime Minister Modi? If they keep doing such acts, we have to do the same.'	ConfidenceHigh	StatusSingle-source via Lokmat Times as of Sep 2, 2026, 2:17 PM UTC

Transparency & Audit Trail

2 distinct · 2 mastheads · 2 articles consulted: Deccan Chronicle, Lokmat Times 18 claims extracted Version 1 Written 2026-09-02