New Delhi: Easter Sunday’s Loktantra Bachao or ‘save democracy’ rally against the backdrop of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal’s arrest turned out to be the opposition’s show of strength that also laid the roadmap for a joint campaign in the Lok Sabha polls.
Each of the INDIA leaders emphasised the need to come together despite differences with each other, as they spoke of the necessity to build a political umbrella on the central issue of democratic backsliding in India and a right-wing takeover of India’s long-cherished autonomous institutions. The rally ended with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra reading a resolution on behalf of INDIA that demanded an immediate release of Kejriwal and former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren and urged the Union government to ensure a level playing field in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls.
Uddhav Thackeray, leader of the Shiv Sena faction under his name, spoke about the need for a coalition government in the country and held the “one party, one man” rule in the country as the reason behind the weakening of the Indian nation. Leader of Kashmir’s People’s Democratic Party, Mehbooba Mufti, spoke about how opposition leaders were being put under the legal scanner without “any vakeel (advocate), any karyavahi (process), and any daleel (sound argument)”.
“Those who the BJP had called corrupt are in the BJP now, after having gone through its washing machine. We have seen everything. We have also suffered everything. For how long will we be content in only criticising this government? That is why my call is abki baar, BJP tadipaar,” Thackeray said amidst a cheering crowd. The phrase is a take a BJP slogan for Modi and, loosely translated, means ‘the next time BJP will be little more than fugitives’.
Former Jharkhand chief minister Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana Soren said, “We have to truly understand Ram’s values. He valued neeti, niyam, aur dhairya (morals, rules and patience).”
She added that despite her husband’s arrest, she wanted to tell the BJP – “Jharkhand jhukega nahin, India jhukega nahin, India rukega nahin.” ‘Jharkhand won’t bow down, India won’t bow down, India won’t stop.’
The INDIA bloc’s rally on March 31, 2024. Photo: By arrangement.
Kejriwal’s wife Sunita Kejriwal also spoke at the event and asked the gathering whether they truly believe that Kejriwal is corrupt. The crowd responded with, “Main bhi Kejriwal” – ‘I too am Kejriwal’. She went on to read Kejriwal’s message from jail. “I will not stop working for the people of India and will keep dreaming about a Bharat where everyone, rich and poor, can get the best education and health care,” Sunita read.
Young leaders of the INDIA bloc Akhilesh Yadav and Tejashwi Yadav drew the biggest applause from the crowd. “Modi ji has time to meet Priyanka Chopra but not the farmers, not the poor,” said Rashtriya Janata Dal’s Tejashwi, as the crowd showed visible excitement.
“Modi’s promises are like those cheap Chinese goods, the warranty periods of which last for only two or three months. In only 17 months, we in Bihar gave five lakh jobs to the young. What happened to Modi ji’s promise of two crore jobs every year?” he said, adding that one must understand that Indians are living in an era of “undeclared emergency”.
Samajwadi Party’s Akhilesh Yadav followed along the same lines. “In India, elected chief ministers are put in prison. The government and the BJP lie so much that we can call them the biggest liars of the universe. The BJP and its government have put India’s long-held global prestige to shame. PDA (peechde or backward, Dalits, and Adivasis) will defeat them this time. We all have to vote against them in full force.”
Leaders at the INDIA bloc’s rally on March 31, 2024. Photo: By arrangement.
Dipankar Bhattacharya of the CPI(ML-Liberation) said that not only the top leaders but even ground-level leaders from the opposition like his party’s MLA from Bihar, Manoj Manzil, have been falsely convicted.
Sitaram Yechury of CPI(M) reminded the crowd about the Jayaprakash Narayan movement in which the socialist leader had called for a ‘total revolution’ to overthrow the autocratic government and save democracy, even as the veteran Maharashtra leader and Nationalist Congress Party head Sharad Pawar spoke about how every state institution and opposition leaders are under attack.
Trinamool Congress’s Derek O’Brien, whose party has decided to contest alone in West Bengal, said, “I am here to say that TMC was, is, and will be a part of INDIA alliance. It is a fight between the BJP and democracy.” The recently-elected Rajya Sabha TMC MP and senior journalist Sagarika Ghose then read out a message on behalf of her party.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was trying to do “match-fixing” in the Lok Sabha elections in 2024. “They have chosen the umpires; they are giving calls of ‘abki baar, 400 paar (this time, we’ll cross 400)’ which only makes us wonder about whether the match is fixed. Because as much as I understand, the BJP will not cross 180 this time.”
Rahul Gandhi and Bhagwant Singh Mann at the INDIA bloc’s rally on March 31, 2024. Photo: By arrangement.
He said how the Congress’s bank accounts have been frozen and opposition chief ministers were arrested merely two months before the elections, and not six months ago, because “the BJP wants to prevent us from campaigning. All this to snatch away the rights guaranteed to us by our Constitution. The Constitution is the Indian people’s heart beat, their voice. If that goes, then India may split into different parts.”
“I want to say from this stage that they may gag the media’s voice but they won’t be able to prevent the Indian peoples from speaking up. If we have to stop this match-fixing, we have to come out and vote against them in full force. Do not let them succeed in their plans,” Gandhi said.
Sonia Gandhi, who rarely shows up in political events, also walked onto the stage as leaders were speaking, and sat between Kalpana Soren and Sunita Kejriwal as a mark of solidarity. Senior leaders like Farooq Abdullah, D. Raja, Tiruchi Siva, Thol Thirumavalan, Punjab chief minister Bhagwant Mann, Jharkhand chief minister Champai Soren and others took their turns to tear into the Modi regime and exhorted people to “save Indian democracy”.
“I want to tell these autocrats that our country is not someone’s property,” Mann, of the Aam Aadmi Party, said.
Mallikarjun Kharge at the INDIA bloc’s rally on March 31, 2024. Photo: By arrangement.
Jharkhand Janmukti Morcha’s Champai Soren said that his ancestors in the Adivasi communities have a history of fighting against authoritarian regimes. “We will fight the same battle again but this will through the medium of our votes. This is a fight for our justice,” Soren said.
Priyanka Gandhi said that when the Hindu deity Ram fought the asura Ravana, he did not have power, whereas Ravana had “soney ki Lanka” – golden Lanka.
“Lord Ram stood up for truth and justice. We will follow the same example,” she said.
Speaking at the end, Congress president Malliakrjun Kharge, however, addressed what has been troubling the INDIA bloc the most. Looking at Mann and O’Brien, he said that the INDIA parties first need to stand together, come what may, against this authoritarian regime. “We can’t let our mutual differences dictate our alliance as we must be clear that this fight is not only for one election but for a much larger cause.”
“The opposition has to unite. The unity in diversity that we see in India also has to be seen in our alliance. Remember that the RSS-BJP is a poison. You can’t lick it even once. Even that will bring you death. Whatever our differences are, we have to first learn how to become a united force. We will gain nothing by stomping on each other.”
“Our fight should not be about one person. This is a fight to save our democracy.”
