Upping the ante on E Ahamed's death, Rahul Gandhi today led a Congress protest alleging that the Kerala MP's death was hushed up by the government to ensure the Union Budget is presented on time.

The 78-year-old former Union minister and IUML MP collapsed during the President's address to the joint sitting of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha on January 31, a day before Finance Minister Arun Jaitley presented the Union Budget.


The Congress had demanded that the presentation of the Budget should be postponed by a day over Ahamed's death."We are Ahamed Sahab," said the placard held by Rahul as he stood with other MPs from Kerala near Mahatma Gandhi's statue.


"The government will answer if the issue is raised in Parliament. They are trying to politicise it. The doctors did their best. I don't understand what is the issue?" Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said.


The Congress, an ally of the IUML, has alleged that Ahamed had passed away while he was taken to the hospital, but the government wanted to keep the body in hospital until the Budget was presented.


The party said it was not only an "insult" of the late MP and his family, but also "the Muslim community".


The Congress has also alleged that Ahamed's family was "ill-treated" at the Delhi hospital after Ahamed was admitted there on January 31.


Senior Congress leader KV Thomas has demanded strong action and probe by a Parliamentary Committee into the incident."Had Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi not intervened strongly, Ahamed's children would not have got the opportunity to see his body and offer prayers as per Muslim customs," Thomas claimed.


The We are Ahamed Saheb is a possible reference to the Charlie Hebdo protests in 2015. "Je suis Charlie", French for "I am Charlie" is a slogan adopted by supporters of freedom of speech and freedom of the press after the 7 January 2015 shooting in which twelve people were killed at the offices of the French satirical weekly newspaper Charlie Hebdo.