Union home minister Amit Shah on Tuesday hit out at the Opposition, saying the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) will return to power with a resounding majority in 2029, hours after Congress leader Rahul Gandhi vowed that the ongoing protests against chief election commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will continue.
Citing the outcome of recent bypolls in states such as Gujarat, Rajasthan and West Bengal, where the Bharatiya Janata Party won, Shah said the Congress leadership, particularly the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Gandhi, should reflect on recent defeats.
“Rahul Gandhi should engage in self-reflection by learning from the election results. Instead of questioning the election process with every defeat, the Congress should reflect on its acceptability among the people. The trust of the people is earned not through mere allegations and propaganda, but through public outreach and public service,” he said.
Earlier in the day, the Opposition announced a “mission to restore democracy” that might include a political fight against the Union government’s decision to de-notify Jantar Mantar as a protest site. The parties also agreed to wait for the Supreme Court’s decision on their petition filed on Monday before another stir in Delhi.
The leaders hailed Monday’s march to the Supreme Court as a major achievement and decided to form an INDIA plus group to accommodate political parties, activists, students and other organisations. It even discussed plans for a mock Parliament and flash agitations.
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“We are all standing here together as one. As I said yesterday, there are no parallel protests. There is one singular protest, and the protest has one mission: restoration of democracy in India. Democracy has been destroyed in this country. The election system has been destroyed. The Constitution has been torn up and thrown away. We are fighting together to restore democratic rule, genuine democratic rule in this country,” Gandhi said after hosting leaders from 12 parties, civil society members and student organisations at his 5, Sunehri Bagh Road residence.
“The one method of expression of democracy was Jantar Mantar and now the government has decided that Jantar Mantar can no longer be used to express democratic feelings. Well, we are going to challenge that idea. It is not going to be so simple for the government to decide that the Indian people will not fight for their voice. The people who have done this, they need to understand that the net is closing around them. It is not going to be so simple that you can destroy the Indian Constitution and get away with it,” Gandhi added.
The developments came after a week of protests where tens of thousands of people hit the streets, braving expansive metro closures, internet shutdown, prohibitory orders and 40,000 security personnel who turned the Capital into a virtual fortress and sparked controversy by dragging, manhandling and detaining many agitators. While the Opposition is seeking the removal of Kumar and scrapping the controversial special intensive revision, the BJP blames them for trying to destabilise constitutional bodies to deflect attention from their own political and electoral failures.
Shah invoked the BJP’s victories in Gujarat municipal elections and said the state‘s voters still stand “rock-solid with Modi even today.”
“Today, elections for three municipalities and municipal corporations were held in Gujarat. In two municipalities and one municipal corporation, the BJP has achieved a resounding victory by winning 90 out of the total 104 seats. In the Gandhinagar Municipal Corporation, which falls within my constituency, the BJP has won 38 out of 44 seats, while the Aam Aadmi Party contested 32 seats and had their deposits forfeited in all 32 seats,” Shah said.
Pointing out that the BJP did not face anti-incumbency even after four decades in power in Gujarat, Shah said the Congress had not won a single election in the duration. “I also want to ask Rahul, is this the result of SIR? Do you dismiss the popularity of the BJP and Modi’s popularity by calling it the result of SIR? The success of the BJP and NDA in the local bodies and by-elections in Gujarat, Rajasthan, Tripura, and other states reflects the support of the people,” he said.
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The minister said the Congress should reflect on why it did not win a single seat in by-elections that were held in West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, and Puducherry. He also lashed out at Gandhi for criticising SIR and said the opposition to the exercise was an “action plan to protect infiltrators”.
“I also want to tell Rahul Gandhi ji and his companions that in the 2029 general elections, the NDA will return to power with a resounding majority, and the Congress will face defeat for the fourth consecutive time. The people of this country are with Modi ji, with the BJP, with the NDA,” Shah said.
Earlier in the day, opposition leaders met for more than two hours, and spoke against the government’s decision to remove Jantar Mantar as a notified protest site. Ramlila Ground, Burari ground and CBD ground in east Delhi as new designated protest sites.
“Yesterday you saw an expression, not of the political parties standing here, but an expression of the people of India. We were there, but what happened yesterday could not have happened without the expression of the average citizen of this country, non-political citizen of this country. So, the first thing as a group we would like to do is we would like to thank the people of Delhi, the people of India who stood with us against what is being done. This is not about us, this is about the people of India, this is about the future of the people of India. And we, all of us together, because we love you and we respect you are going to fight to the end to restore the democratic process in this country. It is our commitment, the people who have done this, are going to be brought to justice,” Gandhi said.
Apart from Gandhi, Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi and party president Mallikarjun Kharge attended the meeting. Jammu and Kashmir chief minister Omar Abdullah, Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti, Rashtriya Janata Dal leaders Tejashwi Yadav and Manoj Jha, Samajwadi Party leaders Anand Bhadauria, Harender Malik and M Nadvi, Jharkhand Mukti Morcha’s Mahua Maji, Communist Party of India (Marxist) general secretary MA Baby, Communist Party of India’s D Raja and party MP Sandosh Kumar, Communist Party of India (Marxist Leninist) leader Dipankar Bhattacharya, Nationalist Congress Party (Sharadchandra Pawar) lawmaker Supriya Sule, Jose K Mani of the Kerala Congress, Viduthalai Chiruthaigal Katchi chief Thol Thirumavalavan were among those present, alongside student leaders Neha Bora and Aishe Ghosh.
According to three senior leaders who attended the meeting, all expressed satisfaction over the mass mobilisation on Monday. “It has been decided that before taking out another massive march in the heart of Delhi, the INDIA bloc will wait for the Supreme Court’s view on our petition. The logic is that we have already gone to court so we must wait for the SC’s orders,” said a fourth leader.
This position, however, will not deter the Opposition from protesting at Jantar Mantar. “Our decentralised programmes will continue to take place in Jantar Mantar. We do not agree with the government’s view that protests can’t be held at that place,” said a fifth leader.
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According to functionaries, the leaders even discussed a sketchy plan to hold a mock Parliament against Modi, Shah and Kumar. Gandhi also told everyone to remain alert for “surprise movements” at 24 hours’ notice, said another leader present at the meeting.
MA Baby said that after vote chori (vote theft), the government had done “chori of Jantar Mantar.” “Gyanesh Kumar has joined the ruling party’s team... He steals votes, protest site and democracy,” added Baby.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Sanjay Raut compared Kumar to a mafia. Neha Bora said the people were fighting one enemy of democracy and the Constitution. “The common people of this country, who have fought and sacrificed their lives to make India a democracy and defend the Constitution, are not ready to settle for a stolen mandate or a compromised democracy,” she added