The Loktantra Bachao rally in Delhi Ramalila Maidan on Sunday by the INDIA bloc of opposition parties was successful in driving the point home that the Constitution Is threatened and it has to be saved by the people of the beleaguered country in the forthcoming general elections. Speaker after speaker highlighted the theme that the Election Commission is not free, the two chief ministers – Arvind Kejriwal of Delhi and Hemant Soren of Jarkhand – are incarcerated weeks before the polls, Central agencies such as CBI, IT, ED are misused to torment the INDIA leaders and the opposition parties are starved of funds by freezing their accounts. The leaders have appealed to the CEC to allow a level playing field. That the democracy is in danger was in the air. The huge rally was organised for the first time by INDIA alliance after it was formed ten months ago. The rally was in support of Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal and former Jarkhand CM Hemant Soren who have been arrested by the ED.
More than the speeches, the congenial atmosphere on the stage with the gracious presence of Sonia Gandhi who was treated like their mother by Kejriwal’s wife Sunita and Hemant’s better half Kalpana Soren when they came to the dais was heartwarming. The way Sonia chatted with the wives of the two leaders was reassuring to them.
Sunita Kejriwal read out the INDIA manifesto jotted down by Kejriwal. It consisted of six guarantees – 24X7 power supply, free power supply for the poor, government schools, Mohalla clinics in every village, a multi-speciality government hospital in every district, Minimum Support price for all crops in adherence to the Swaminathan report. Kalpana Soren said she represents half of the country’s population who are women and nine percent of the tribal population in the country.
While Congress President Mallikharjun Kharge minced no words in criticising BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Bihar’s RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav and UP’s Samajwadi Party supremo Akhilesh Yadav were at their attacking best.
Trinamool Congress, which refused to concede a single seat to the Congress in west Bengal, was represented by senior leader Derek O’ Brien who reaffirmed that his party was, is and will be part of INDIA alliance. Kshamiri leaders Farooq Abdullah and Mehbooba Mufti Syed were eloquent in their criticism of the BJP.
At the conclusion of the rally, Congress General Secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on behalf of INDIA read out the five-point demands. The opposition rally demanded that the Election Commissiion ensure a level playing field for them and stop “coercive action” against them by Central agencies. The opposition parties also demanded immediate release of Hemant Soren and Arvind Kejriwal. The rally also urged the Supreme Court to set up a Special Investigation Team to probe the allegations of quid pro quo, extortion and money laundering by the BJP using the electoral bonds.
Priyanka said, “I have been coming to Ramlila Maidan since childhood. Every year Ravana’s effigy is set on fire. When I was a kid, I used to come here with my grandmother Indiraji and she used to narrate the Ramayan to me. What was the message of the Ramayan that occurred thousands of years ago? When Ram fought for the Truth, he had to power, no army, no chariots, no gold with him. All of them were with Ravana. Ram had only satya, hope, courage, good intentions and love with him. I want to remind the prime minister that power is not permanent, it comes and goes. Arrogance will lead to defeat.”
