AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Pradesh Congress Committee (GPCC) president Bharatsinh Solanki said his party will hold state-wide protest demanding an apology from BJP president Amit Shah for his remarks on Mahatma Gandhi .

“Amit Shah had called Mahatma Gandhi, father of the nation, a chatur baniya. The bad words come from a leader who himself went to jail and remained externed. Today, the entire world is worshiping Mahatma Gandhi and even the developed countries adopt Mahatma Gandhi’s way of non-violence. But, the BJP leader showed his mentality... This is not just an insult of Mahatma Gandhi but of entire Vanik/Baniya community,” Solanki told reporters on Sunday at GPCC office in Paldi area of the city.

Addressing a select audience of "prominent citizens" in Chhattisgarh's Raipur on Friday evening, Shah also said the Congress was not rooted in any ideology or principles and was sort of a "special purpose vehicle" to secure freedom.

Solanki also announced to hold protests against the custodial death of a 30-year-old Patidar youth- Ketan Patel . He said that a delegation of his party met Gujarat governor O P Kohli on the issue demanding CBI probe into the case.

He also questioned deputy chief minister Nitin Patel 's inaction in the case. “Why didn't a single minister visit Ketan Patel’s parents to give them solace,” he asked.

Speaking on farmers’ protest from across the country, Solanki said that Congress will hold ' Rasta Roko ' or ‘Road Block’ on the issues of farmers on June 16 to press their demand of sufficient minimum support price of cotton, groundnuts and potatoes and onions.

The Congress leader said that they will move a charter of demands for farmers, including loan waiver for farmers in the state.

