If Monday (July 21) belonged to the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), whose activists marched to Parliament only to face the full force of the Delhi Police, Tuesday belonged to India’s largest opposition party, the Congress.
Rahul Gandhi, flanked by Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and party president Mallikarjun Kharge, staged an unprecedented sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence before being forcibly removed by the police, capping nearly three hours of high-voltage political drama.
Competitive politics among anti-government forces took centre stage.
After the police used batons and tear gas to stop thousands of young protesters from marching to Parliament to demand the resignation of Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the NEET paper leak, the Congress leadership intensified its campaign by staging a sit-in outside Modi’s residence before police dispersed the protest and detained several senior opposition leaders.
If Indian media reports are to be believed, Rahul Gandhi’s sit-in outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence caught both the Delhi Police and intelligence agencies by surprise.
Security arrangements had reportedly been concentrated at Vijay Chowk, near the National Parliament, following intelligence inputs that Congress leaders were likely to protest there, The Indian Express reported.
Several Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, instead reached Modi’s residence at Lok Kalyan Marg and staged a protest against the alleged police brutality committed against students during the Cockroach Janta Party’s march to Parliament.
According to PTI, citing party sources, Congress MPs had initially been instructed to assemble at party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence at 10 Rajaji Marg to wish him on his birthday.
Many MPs were unaware of what was about to unfold and arrived at Kharge’s residence as instructed.
They were then asked to follow Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra after the two leaders suddenly moved towards the gate of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, located about 500 metres away.
Rahul Gandhi, the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, reached 7, Lok Kalyan Marg along with Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and several other Congress leaders.
They sat on the road outside the Prime Minister’s residence and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the Delhi Police action against the Parliament march organised by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP).
The Congress leadership surprised not only the government and the police but also many of its own MPs by staging a sit-in outside one of the gates of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s official residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg.
For the Congress leadership to organise a protest in such a high-security zone, maintaining complete secrecy was essential.
Otherwise, the area could have been cordoned off in advance, a party leader familiar with the developments said.
Following the impressive display of youth mobilisation in the heart of Delhi on Monday, there was a growing sense within the Congress that it needed to counter the perception that the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) had become the driving force behind the movement against paper leaks and examination irregularities.
Within the party, the view was that although Rahul Gandhi had been raising these issues consistently and had held two high-profile public engagements in Kota in June and in Dehradun last week, it was the CJP that stole the spotlight on Monday by taking to the streets in a well-planned and widely publicised protest.
The question circulating in political circles was why India’s established opposition parties had not done what the CJP and activist Sonam Wangchuk’s hunger strike had managed to achieve.
Why had no major opposition party launched a sustained street movement, or why had none of its senior leaders undertaken a hunger strike?
A perception had begun to take hold among the public that the CJP was stepping in to fill a political vacuum left by the established opposition parties on an issue affecting millions of young people.
Many believed that the Congress, as the leading party of the INDIA opposition alliance, should have taken the lead in mobilising protests on the ground.
Political sources said another important reason behind Rahul Gandhi’s decision to stage the sit-in was his recent overseas trip, which forced the postponement of the Congress’s nationwide student outreach campaign.
The campaign, announced with the promise of a series of protests and public meetings against alleged irregularities in examinations and recruitment, was deferred less than a month after it had been unveiled.
According to the campaign schedule released by the party, rallies were to be held in Prayagraj (Allahabad), Patna, Delhi and Dehradun during the first two weeks of July.
However, they had to be postponed after Gandhi extended his foreign visit.
The Congress has not officially disclosed the purpose of that trip, despite it coming at a time when the party was expected to reinvigorate its campaign.
By staging the sit-in outside the Prime Minister’s residence, Rahul Gandhi may have succeeded in restoring the momentum that the outreach campaign had lost.