In Photos: When Opposition MPs Could Freely Protest

The detention of nearly 175 MPs when walking down to meet officials of the ECI, whom they were scheduled to see at noon, brought back in sharp contrast how the BJP (then Jan Sangh) marched and protested freely.

Abhishek Choudhary

in photos when opposition mps could freely protest

The Jan Sangh protesting Nehru’s invitation to Chou En-Lai to discuss the border dispute, February 17, 1960. Left to right: Vajpayee, Deendayal, and Madhok.

Today, August 11, hundreds of MPs were detained while walking down to meet officials of the ECI in New Delhi against the Bihar special intensive revision. Not too long ago, the BJP (then the Jan Sangh) marched and protested freely. The following is a flashback of opposition protests from the recently released Vajpayee: The Ascent of the Hindu Right, 1924–1977 by Abhishek Choudhary.

1955: On the verge of stardom, Atal agitates a crowd of Goa Satyagraha supporters in Delhi

A sit-in at Gadra, to protest the return of such territories captured during the 1971 war, as per the Simla agreement.

Vajpayee (sitting, left) at a 1971 party rally in Calcutta in support of Bangladesh’s independence.

‘Is this democracy?’ A plane hovers above Boat Club to disrupt Vajpayee’s 1971 campaign rally.

The Jan Sangh protesting the Kutch Agreement, June 1965.

Atal protesting the imposition of sales tax at the Lucknow Assembly House in April 1956.

This article went live on August eleventh, two thousand twenty five, at sixteen minutes past four in the afternoon.

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