New Delhi, 14 October- The arrest and remand of youth protesters Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka to five days of judicial custody in connection with the Jantar Mantar protest appears to be cementing the opposition unity further as the opposition leaders today condemned the Modi government’s act with Congress leader Rahul Gandhi calling it an act of “cowardice” and AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj terming it as “dictatorship”.
“Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice,” Rahul said in a post on X.
The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha said students, youth, journalists and the INDIA bloc were raising their voices under different banners but were united by a common cause — the demand for their constitutional rights.
“Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights,” he said, asserting that Jantar Mantar belonged to the people of India.
“We will reclaim it,” Rahul added.
And quick came CJP leader Abhijeet Dipke’s reply, “Thank you, LoP @Rahul Gandhi sir, for speaking out against the illegal arrest of @AshutoshRAnka &@SauravDassss”
Senior AAP leader Saurabh Bharadwaj also criticised the court’s decision to remand the two protesters to judicial custody.
“Saurabh Das and Ashutosh Ranka sent to 5-days judicial custody for waving Tiranga at Jantar Mantar. This is DICTATORSHIP,” Bharadwaj said in a post on X.
The post marks a major shift in the Congress’s stance on the CJP, sparked by a social media trend in May. Voices in the main Opposition party were initially sceptical of the CJP, which led the 17-day demonstration against paper leaks at Jantar Mantar in July.
As the CJP emerged as a talking point, top Congress leaders maintained a strategic silence on the front, stressing that it had been raising the issues of paper leaks and alleged voter list irregularities through its ‘Chhatron ki goonj’ and ‘vote chori’ campaigns long before CJP.
In fact, on October 10, when the CJP called for a protest march demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over issues linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, the Congress stayed away. This was conspicuous because in the days leading up to the CJP protest, the main opposition and its allies were making headlines for back-to-back street protests.
In this, CJP stayed away when the Opposition took out a march on October 12, adding another episode to separate protests with the same demand throwing many questions and raising many doubts whether the two were working at cross purposes.
But on Tuesday, shift came. Addressing the media along with his allies in the INDIA bloc, Gandhi said, “We are standing here together as one; there are no parallel protests, there’s only one protest.”
Interestingly, the Congress stayed clear of the CJP’s activities ever since the latter emerged as a pressure group during the Jantar Mantar agitation in July. During the July protests demanding former Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan’s resignation, Gandhi did not visit Jantar Mantar but held parallel protests, including an impromptu sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s residence.
At the time, the Congress stance was that the main Opposition party had been raising issues of public interest and should claim that space instead of letting CJP take the lead. From there to Rahul Gandhi posting in solidarity with CJP leaders is a massive shift.
Sources in the Congress averred that Gandhi’s post in solidarity with the CJP should be seen in the context of the Congress leader’s calls for protests against Gyanesh Kumar. “Rahul Gandhi has already said that it is all one protest. So if CJP people have been arrested, then it is natural for Gandhi to react to it. His call has been very clear — all protests are one, against Gyanesh Kumar,” said a source adding that it is a natural progression. “We in the Congress don’t rush but wait and see before plunging fully”, he said.
“He has told all civil society members and student leaders to come together so if someone is getting arrested for a protest against Gyanesh Kumar, it is his responsibility to back them,” the source added.
Besides Gandhi, several INDIA bloc leaders have come out in support of CJP leaders Sourav Das and Abhishek Ranka, who have been sent to five-day judicial custody for allegedly trespassing into Jantar Mantar.
Abhishek Banerjee, MP and leader of the Mamata Trinamool Congress, said on X, “The so called biggest nationalists are now arresting Indians for unfurling and waving the Tricolour in their own country, an act which, according to the Union Government constitutes a breach of peace. Welcome to the BJP’s new Pakistanified Bharat.”
Dipankar Bhattacharya, CPIML’s general secretary, said that “Jantar Mantar belongs to the people and the whole world knows it as Delhi’s most common protest site” and called the CJP leaders’ custody a “ridiculous punishment”. “India shall not brook this arbitrary order. Reclaim Jantar Mantar,” he said.
INDIA bloc leaders’ condemnation of the CJP leaders’ arrest also aligns with their call to “reclaim” Jantar Mantar after the government decided to cancel it as a designated site for protests.
The Congress was then not keen to be seen as backing the CJP or being associated with it. Today’s post and Rahul Gandhi’s “one protest” slogan indicate that has changed.
Veteran Journalist and Political Commentator
