I.N.D.I.A. bloc Vows to Reclaim Jantar Mantar as Protest Site, Rejects Talk of a Pause

A key focus of the Opposition I.N.D.I.A. bloc’s October 13 meeting at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Sunehri Bagh Road residence in Delhi was reclaiming Jantar Mantar as a protest site after the Delhi Police denotified it, at least two leaders who took part in the meeting, which was followed by a press conference, said. The Opposition is on the warpath, demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls conducted by the Election Commission of India (ECI).

“Contrary to talk in some circles that there is a pause in the protests, we all decided unanimously that our student and youth fronts will work to reclaim Jantar Mantar as the main protest site, although the government wants the protests to take place far away from the seats of power,” MA Baby, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist), told Open. At the meeting held at Gandhi’s residence, organisational leaders such as Baby and others, including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, D Raja, Sonia Gandhi, Supriya Sule, Tejashwi Yadav, Dipankar Bhattacharya, and leaders of the Samajwadi Party, Trinamool Congress and others (who represented their leaders), were seated separately at a table away from other participants. At this table, they discussed the need to preserve the momentum of the protests and to defy the government’s decision on protest venues in New Delhi. The Delhi Police on October 12 replaced Jantar Mantar as a designated protest site and offered three alternative venues that include Ramlila Ground, CBD Ground and Burari Ground.

Another leader of the allies said that there was no iota of truth in reports in a section of TV channels that there were differences of opinion over how some parties in the I.N.D.I.A. bloc joined the protests. “All leaders were highly appreciative of mutual help, of how some leaders stepped in to fill the gap when others were away or under preventive detention, and of the role played by each entity to keep the protests alive,” said this leader, who is a long-term member of Parliament.

Dipankar Bhattacharya, General Secretary of the Communist Party of India (Marxist–Leninist) Liberation, told Open that news of differences among the constituents is a figment of the imagination of a section of the media. “There is no pause. There won’t be I.N.D.I.A. bloc protests today, but there is not going to be any let-up in the momentum. We decided to continue with the agitation and to organise flash protests not only in Delhi but also elsewhere. We also don’t accept denotification of protest venues by the government. We continue to treat Jantar Mantar as a protest venue and will organise protests there. There is great convergence of views over this matter,” said Bhattacharya, who also decried the brutal use of force by the security forces on young protesters, leaders as well as journalists.

According to journalist bodies, the Delhi Police have detained at least 30 journalists over two days, October 10 and 11, as they covered protests against Chief Election Commissioner (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar.

Central Delhi has seen a massive deployment of forces since the Cockroach Janata Party (CJP) called for a protest demanding the removal of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar, notwithstanding a verdict by the Supreme Court in a special sitting on October 11, when it said that there shall be no action or detention of peaceful and unarmed people beyond the area where Section 163 BNSS prohibitory orders were in operation. The Opposition and the agitating youth, led by the CJP and leftist student organisations such as SFI, AISF, AISA and others, were met with force over trying to organise protests; many of them were reportedly carried away in vans, detained and beaten up.

Several I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders told Open that during an earlier meeting of the coalition of sorts, Rahul Gandhi had said that there was “virtual panic” in both the corridors of power at the Centre and the ECI about the irregularities in the SIR, which he described as “vote chori (theft)” because it involved the deletion of names of eligible voters in bulk to “ensure” a BJP win. Open had reported that he told the meeting that the system built by Modi since 2014, when he was first elected Prime Minister, and backed to the hilt by central agencies and other complicit players, is now “crumbling” in the wake of allegations amounting, the Congress leader said, to the destruction of Indian democracy.

Speaking to Open, Baby also said that the bloc needed to ensure greater female representation in the leadership of these protests to save Indian democracy. He said that when he brought up the issue at the meeting, he was wholeheartedly backed by other key I.N.D.I.A. bloc leaders.