New Delhi: With less than three weeks to go for the Lok Sabha elections, the Opposition’s INDIA bloc Sunday put up a show of strength in Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan. The leaders present underlined the need to draw inspiration from the Hindu epic Ramayana’s depiction of “triumph of Lord Rama” despite being short on resources compared to his rival Ravana to end the run of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
While the arrests of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren acted as a catalyst for the rally — which witnessed the participation of 17 parties — it also saw Kejriwal’s wife Sunita reading out election “guarantees”, and Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra placing “demands” including the “immediate release” of the arrested leaders and a Supreme Court monitored probe into the scrapped electoral bonds scheme.
The issue of electoral bonds, however, was not a refrain, but only a passing reference in some speeches at the rally.
The organiser Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) went the extra mile, including taking down a poster showing Kejriwal behind bars from the front of the dais minutes before the event began, to assuage Congress’s concerns about the rally being “just about Kejriwal and Soren” and not about “India’s imperilled democracy and constitution”.
While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi outlined the potential “threats” that the BJP poses to the Indian Constitution, Priyanka invoked the “values of Lord Rama”, which, she said, were needed as a reminder to “those who call themselves Ram bhakts (devotees)”. Also present on the dais was former Congress President Sonia Gandhi, who sat beside Sunita Kejriwal and Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana.
“I used to come here (Ramlila Maidan) as a child with my grandmother Indira Gandhi, who taught me Ram gatha. Today, those in power call themselves ram bhakts, so I thought I should remind them that what they are indulging in is exhibitionism. The message of ram gatha is that when Lord Rama fought for the truth, he lacked power, resources, or even a chariot. Ravana had access to all that and more including gold and an army. Ram had truth, courage, love, determination and modesty. I also want to remind Modiji that the message of Ram gatha is also that power is ephemeral, it comes and goes, arrogance is shattered,” Priyanka said.
With the Ayodhya Ram Mandir consecration ceremony a centre piece of the ruling BJP’s electoral campaign, particularly in the heartland states, the Opposition has often found itself struggling in crafting a response to draw Hindu votes to its fold. Priyanka’s forceful intervention appeared aimed at that elephant in the room.
Speaking before Priyanka, Kalpana Soren — whose growing involvement in the affairs of Jharkhand’s ruling Jharkhand Mukti Morcha (JMM) since the arrest of her husband has been a subject of discussion — made a similar point, underlining the need to absorb the essence of Lord Ram in the “truest sense”.
“Lord Rama followed principles, rules and ideals even during war time. He embodied tolerance despite being powerful and treated opponents with dignity,” she said, calling herself the voice of the women and Adivasis.
Hemant Soren, who handed over the baton of chief ministership to Champai Soren, was arrested on the evening of 31 January by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) in an alleged land scam case.
The role of ED, Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) and the Income Tax Department in going after Opposition leaders in various cases was brought up by nearly every leader who addressed the gathering. The speech by Sunita Kejriwal, who has also found herself thrust into the spotlight ever since the arrest of her husband and AAP chief, was her first in a major rally such as the one at Ramlila Maidan Sunday.
“Our prime minister has put my husband in jail. Has he done the right thing? The BJP is saying he should resign. Should he resign?” she asked, drawing a loud “No” from the crowd. “Kejriwal is a lion. They will not be able to keep him in jail for too long,” she said, before going on to announce “six guarantees of the INDIA alliance” as drafted by the AAP supremo.
The CM also apologised, through his wife, to the INDIA bloc leaders for having “unilaterally declared the guarantees”. “I could not consult you all since I am in jail,” Sunita, who meets Arvind Kejriwal in ED custody daily, quoted her husband.
The guarantees, broadly themed around AAP’s campaign mainstays, include uninterrupted, and free electricity for the poor, high quality government schools in each village and neighbourhood, neighbourhood clinics and multi-speciality hospitals, MSP to farmers based on Swaminathan commission report, and full statehood for Delhi. In the 2019 Lok Sabha polls, Congress had desisted from promising full statehood to Delhi, drawing flak from the AAP.
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Cracks in alliance on display
The rally also witnessed statements that captured the tension and internal contradictions within the INDIA bloc. First, Derek O’Brien of the Trinamool Congress, which has refused to strike any seat-sharing deal with the Congress and Left in West Bengal, asserted that his party “was, is, and shall remain a part of the INDIA alliance”.
O’Brien, incidentally, was seated next to general secretaries of the CPI and CPI(M) D. Raja and Sitaram Yechury, respectively, on the stage that had a large banner inscribed with the slogan “Tanashahi hatao, loktantra bachao (get rid of dictatorship, save democracy)”, as the backdrop, apart from a slideshow showing all the prominent leaders of the INDIA bloc. Party flags of the Congress, AAP and the Left parties dotted the Ramlila Maidan.
In his speech, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that he expects the Punjab chief minister to understand that “only when we fight together, can we achieve something, or else we will continue to harm each other”. Addressing the crowd, he added, “First we have to learn to stay united and not to think of breaking each other. This should be our policy.”
Punjab CM Mann was among those who touched Kharge’s feet when the latter climbed up the dais. The AAP and the Congress are fighting separately in Punjab, despite sharing seats in Delhi, Haryana and Gujarat.
In his speech, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah said, “I am happy that Mehbooba Mufti is here and said clearly that we have to strengthen the INDIA alliance. We are with you and will not leave this alliance.”
While the INDIA bloc is yet to announce any seat-sharing in Jammu and Kashmir, the National Conference has expressed its reservation in parting with seats in the Valley.
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi, who spoke towards the end, accused the Centre of “trying to fix the polls like match fixing in cricket”. Stating that the upcoming election was “not ordinary” in nature, Rahul said India’s democracy and constitution were at stake.
“If the BJP wins a fixed election and amends the constitution, then this entire country will be on fire. This country will not survive. This election is not about votes, but about saving the country and the constitution of India,” he said while both he and Kharge flagged the income tax notices to the Congress, asking it to pay Rs 3,567 crore.
“All our bank accounts have been frozen in the middle of the elections. We need to run campaigns, send people to states, and put up posters. Leaders are being threatened, governments are taken down through money, leaders are put in jail. It is not just Modi but three to four industrialists that are aiding him in this act of fixing,” Rahul said.
(Edited by Zinnia Ray Chaudhuri)
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