Congress president Sonia Gandhi met President Pranab Mukherjee at Rashtrapati Bhavan on Monday evening and reportedly raised concerns about rising intolerance in the country. The Congress also announced that Gandhi and party vice-president Rahul Gandhi will be leading a protest march from the Parliament to Rashtrapati Bhavan on Tuesday, following incidents such as the Dadri lynching and the killings of MM Kalburgi, Narendra Dabholkar and Govind Pansare.

Sonia Gandhi had expressed her concern over rising intolerance during a function in New Delhi on Saturday. She had said, "Organisations and people of a particular ideology are spreading it to divide people. We are under no illusion that it is an accident. The hate, violence and petty-mindedness is being unleashed as part of a pre-determined plan. We will not allow such a diabolical design to succeed. It will shake country's foundations. We are ready to fight the battle.”

Earlier on Monday, Prime Minister Narendra Modi attacked the Congress for raising the issue of rising intolerance by bringing up the 1984 anti-Sikh riots.