Opposition Rally: Show of Solidarity with Call for “Save Democracy and Constitution”
Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Mar 31: In a massive demonstration of solidarity and strength, top leaders of almost all the major opposition parties and partners of the “Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance” (INDIA) stood united at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday standing with the Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren, who were arrested in separate cases by the Enforcement Directorate giving a clarion call to “save the democracy and constitution” in the coming Lok Sabha elections.
The leaders flagged concerns about the health of the country’s democracy, accusing the BJP of decimating the Opposition through the Central investigative agencies. The BJP hit back, declaring that the rally was not about saving democracy as projected but a “save family” and “hide corruption” rally.
Meeting under banner “Loktantra Bachao” (Save Democracy Rally), speaker after speaker of the opposition parties lamented the lack of level playing field for them in the election, citing “coercive action” by Central agencies against them and income tax notices financially crippling them.
While the Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said the BJP and the Prime Minister Narendra Modi were inching towards “match fixing” in the coming Lok Sabha elections, the Rashtriya Janata Dal leader Tejashwi Yadav said the BJP’s claim of the party and the NDA would be crossing the massive 400-seats mark in the Lok Sabha in 2024 was perhaps indicative of the fact that the BJP and Mr Modi had already completed the manipulation of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs).
At the conclusion of the rally, on behalf of the INDIA bloc, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra read out the five-part demands. The Opposition parties demanded that the Election Commission ensure a level playing field for them and stop “coercive action” against them by Central agencies like I-T, ED, and CBI. They also demanded immediate release of Mr Soren and Mr Kejriwal. The parties also directed the government to stop financially strangulating them. They also urged the Supreme Court to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations of quid pro quo, extortion and money laundering by BJP using the electoral bonds.
The alliance also demanded a Supreme Court-monitored Special Investigation Team investigate what they called the BJP’s “extortion” of funds through the electoral bonds scheme.
The “Loktantra Bachao Rally,” the leaders said, was a mark of the INDIA bloc’s commitment to fighting, winning, and saving democracy in India. “If the BJP wins these fixed elections and changes the Constitution, the country will be on fire,” declared Congress’s Rahul Gandhi. “You have to decide if you want democracy or dictatorship… Those who support dictatorship need to be kicked out of the country,” added party chief Mallikarjun Kharge.
“A new energy in the politics of India has been born today… Today, the slogan for independence is being raised here… It is our independence that our Constitution and our republic are protected. We will gain this independence,” said CPM’s Sitaram Yechury.
Punjab Chief Minister and senior Aam Aadmi Party leader Bhagwant Mann declared that Arvind Kejriwal was not a man but an ideology. “You can arrest Arvind Kejriwal, but how will you arrest his ideology? In which jail will you send the lakhs of Kejriwals that are born in India?” he said, reiterating the party stance on the arrest of the Chief Minister, which took place on the eve of the general elections in the country. Mr Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal and Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren were also present at today’s rally.
This was in effect the first public meeting of the 10-month old INDIA bloc, which has been marked by desertions and conflicts over seat-sharing arrangements. The arrest has brought together the Opposition bloc, which was making more headlines recently over its differences than its unity.
A case in point was Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee’s decision to go it alone in Bengal instead of the agreed-upon sit-sharing formula. She even said her membership of INDIA bloc was on hold and she would review the matter after the election.
Her party MP Derek O’Brien, however, staunchly declared on Sunday that Trinamool “very much was, is and will be part of the INDIA alliance”. “This is a fight of BJP versus democracy,” he added.
The rally also comes on a day Prime Minister Narendra Modi flagged off the BJP campaign in Uttar Pradesh. Samajwadi Party chief Akhilesh Yadav, though, appeared unfazed. Appearing at the rally, Mr Yadav said, “These people are giving the slogan of ‘400 Paar’. If you are going to win more than 400 seats, then why are you scared of the AAP leader.”
“You have sent elected Chief Ministers to jail. Not just the Indians but the whole world is criticising it,’ he said, without explicitly mentioning the comments that have come on the subject from the United Nations, United States and Germany.
In a face-off the BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi later told reporters that the Opposition rally was meant to hide their acts of corruption. “The Congress is supporting those who have looted the country as Congress has also looted throughout their tenure. From the days of Pandit Nehru, the Jeep scam to the Bofors scam; the coal scam to the commonwealth scam and the 2G scam. All these happened while Congress was in power,” said Union Minister Pralhad Joshi.
“In Ramlila Maidan, those who put dots in between the name of this country and speak about saving the nation. They are actually there to save their family… India’s ‘tukde tukde’ is in the DNA of Congress… Yuvraj is not even ready to accept India as a nation and he also demands interference of foreign soil,” said the BJP’s Shehzad Poonawala.
Former Congress president Rahul Gandhi asserted that without EVM manipulation and other intimidatory tactics, the BJP and its allies can’t cross 180 seats in the upcoming general election. “When pressure is put on umpires and captains, players are bought off and the match is won in cricket, it is called match-fixing. We have Lok Sabha election before us. Who selected the umpires? Before the match started, two players were arrested… Narendra Modi is trying to do match-fixing in the election,” Mr Gandhi said.
The BJP was raising the slogan of getting 400 seats but without EVMs, “match-fixing”, pressuring media and buying them, it will not be able to reach even 180 seats,” he claimed.
Mr Gandhi sought to remind the crowd of remarks from a BJP MP, who he did not name, that the BJP will change the Constitution when it gets over 400 seats. Sounding an alarm, Mr Gandhi said, “If the Constitution is finished, this country will be finished” and “the country will be torn apart into different states.”
Wives of both incarcerated leaders – Mr Kejriwal and Mr Soren – spoke at the event. Sunita Kejriwal read out a message from the jailed Chief Minister, in which he promised five guarantees – 24X7 power supply, free electricity for poor, government schools and mohalla clinics in every village, a multi-specialty government hospital in every district and minimum support price (MSP) for all crops in adherence to the Swaminathan report.
But before reading out his message, Ms Kejriwal said, “Our Prime Minister Narendra Modi put my husband in custody. Do you all believe that he did the right thing? Do you believe that Kejriwal ji is a true patriot and honest person? These BJP supporters are saying that since Kejriwal is in custody, he should resign. Do you all believe he should resign?”
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge likened the BJP and RSS to “poison.” “You have to decide if you want democracy or dictatorship… Those who support dictatorship need to be kicked out of the country. The BJP and RSS are like poison. You will die even if you taste poison,” Mr Kharge said. The Congress president also spoke to his allies, asking them to overcome their differences. He spoke about the Left and Congress’s electoral contest in Kerala but their unity at national level. Addressing Punjab Chief Minister Bhagwant Mann directly, he said, “We need to unite and only then will we be able to fight the BJP. We won’t succeed if we keep attacking and fighting each other,” he added.
The rally also served as an opportunity for many INDIA bloc participants to recommit themselves to the anti-BJP alliance. Trinamool Congress which had refused to concede any seat to Congress in West Bengal asserted that it “was, is, and will be part of the INDIA bloc.” The crowd roared in response to this remark made by Trinamool’s Rajya Sabha leader Derek O’ Brien.
RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav regaled the crowd with a parody of “Tum Toh Dhokhebaaz Ho”, a song from actor Govinda’s blockbuster Hindi film Saajan Chale Sasural. The actor had recently joined the Shiv Sena (Eknath Shinde), which is part of the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance. The song mocked the Modi government’s alleged failed promises. He said that the BJP’s campaign tagline “Abki baar, 400 paar” (This time, over 400 seats) indicates that they have already fixed the EVMs.
Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav commented that Uttar Pradesh knows how to warmly welcome people and also how to bid them farewell. Taking a dig at the BJP, he asked why the ruling party which is confident of winning 400 seats is scared of Mr Kejriwal and other Opposition leaders.
But amidst the uniformity in the message, there were also underlying contradictions. Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary Sitaram Yechury in his speech underlining the importance of the venue said, “It was here, 47 years back, that a historic meeting was held where Jai Prakash Narayan raised the slogan ‘Freedom or servitude’ and in the election that year, ‘freedom’ won. Today again we are demanding freedom for our secular democratic nation from certain forces,” he said.
Congress president Kharge, former party chiefs Sonia Gandhi and Mr Rahul Gandhi, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) leader Sharad Pawar, Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray, Samajwadi Party president Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Yechury, CPI general secretary D. Raja, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, National Conference chief Farooq Abdullah, and Jharkhand Chief Minister Champai Soren, among others, attended the rally.
