NEW DELHI: It is no secret that politics thrives on symbolism and optics. On Tuesday, the dramatic scenes that played out outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence delivered both.
Images of Leader of the Opposition Rahul Gandhi being dragged by police, bleeding from the nose, his clothes soiled, and one shoe lost in the tussle before being detained dominated the news cycle. It gave the Congress exactly what it wanted – reclaiming the opposition space on the paper leak issue after the massive Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) protests seized the spotlight.
Political observers said Rahul’s detention is likely to be seen as a political self-goal for the Modi government. On Tuesday, Rahul and senior Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, were staging a peaceful protest outside 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, over the brutal police crackdown on protesting youngsters before they were dragged and detained.
“Instead of allowing a peaceful protest or allowing a discussion in Parliament, the authorities have handed the Congress perhaps exactly what it wanted – the image of an opposition leader being stopped from raising questions of public concern,” observers said.
Yes, the scenes were unprecedented. No Leader of Opposition has perhaps protested outside the prime minister’s house before. In fact, the last such protest outside the prime minister’s residence happened way back in 1999 after the IC-814 hijack. Then, families of the hostages staged a sit-in outside Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s residence, forcing the government to engage with the hijackers.
Now, whether Rahul’s flash protest outside a high-security zone like the PM’s residence was justified is a matter of debate. Rahul said it was important to bring the students’ concerns to national spotlight as the government had “no interest” in holding a debate on exam paper leaks. The government justified the crackdown citing security concerns.
