Thousands of Indians rallied on Sunday under key opposition Congress party leader Rahul Gandhi, who made a scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government over soaring unemployment and rising food and fuel prices in the country. Gandhi accused Modi of pursuing policies benefitting big business groups at the expense of small and medium industries and poor farmers and workers. He also said the government was creating an atmosphere of fear and hatred, in reference to Hindu-Muslim tensions. He said the prices of petrol, diesel, cooking gas and essential food items like wheat have shot up 40%-175% since Modi came to power eight years ago. Without naming the business leaders, Gandhi said two key groups were running India’s ports, airports, oil refineries, information technology sector and big media houses. The rally was held at Ramlila Ground in New Delhi, which is used for religious festivals, major political meetings and entertainment events. The Modi government says it has provided millions of people with toilets, gas connections, drinking water, bank accounts, free health insurance and homes. Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman defended the government’s handling of the economy in Parliament and said there was zero probability of India slipping into recession despite battling the COVID-19 pandemic and supply-chain disruptions caused by the ongoing Ukrainian conflict. The rally came three days ahead of the start of Gandhi’s 3,500 kilometers (2,185 miles) walking tour covering Indian cities, towns and villages over the next five months.

Indian opposition leader Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka were detained by police during the Congress party's protest against inflation and rising unemployment in Delhi on Friday. Rahul, Priyanka and other senior leaders of the party were bundled into police jeeps and taken to Police Lines at Kingsway Camp as soon as they embarked on the protest near the Congress headquarters in the heart of the national capital. "We're witnessing the death of democracy. What India has built brick by brick, starting almost a century ago, is being destroyed in front of your eyes. Anybody who stands against this idea of onset of dictatorship is viciously attacked, jailed, arrested and beaten up," Rahul told the media. Also read: India raises interest rate to 5.4%, in 3rd hike since May Earlier in the day, Rahul, his mother and Congress chief Sonia Gandhi, and several lawmakers of the party wore black clothes in Parliament to register their protest against rising prices, particularly of essential commodities, and unemployment. A senior police officer told the local media that they were compelled to crack down on the protesters in the wake of the imposition of prohibitory orders by the authorities. "We have also not given them permission to hold any protest in Delhi," he said. Rahul, son of Sonia and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, is seen by many as a future prime minister of India. Apart from his father, his grandmother Indira Gandhi and great grandfather Jawaharlal Nehru have all served as prime ministers of India. Also read: Bollywood singer Babul Supriyo becomes Bengal minister

A New Delhi court on Wednesday acquitted a female journalist of criminal defamation after she accused a former editor-turned-politician and junior external affairs minister of sexual harassment.

Police Thursday stopped opposition Congress party's march to meet Indian President Ram Nath Kovind and detained Priyanka Gandhi and other leaders, officials said.

India's main opposition Congress party on Friday came down heavily on former US President Barack Obama for referring to Nehru-Gandhi scion Rahul Gandhi as a "nervous" leader in his newly published political memoir.