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Nine months after the INDIA alliance began taking shape, and after recent troubles, a mega rally at the capital’s historic Ramlila Maidan on Sunday will see top leaders from most of the parties in the Opposition bloc come together in a joint show of strength.
The rally comes against the backdrop of the arrest of former Jharkhand Chief Minister Hemant Soren and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal in the last two months, two of the key faces of the Opposition bloc. The Congress on Saturday emphasised that the objective of the “Loktantra Bachao Rally (Save Democracy Rally)” was about saving the Constitution and democracy and not any one leader.
“The rally is not person-centric. This is not for protecting any one person. This is for protecting the democracy and Constitution. This is not the rally of any one party. Over 28 parties are involved in it. All the parties of the INDIA alliance are involved. The Trinamool Congress (TMC) is also included. Although, our seat-sharing formula could not work out in West Bengal, senior leaders of the TMC will be present,” Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh told reporters at the party headquarters in Delhi.
Ramesh said the agenda of the rally would be inflation, unemployment, economic disparity, and polarisation. “We should not forget Hemant Soren ji. Hemant Soren was the first CM who was arrested (he resigned before being arrested) when the Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra was about to enter Jharkhand. Hemant Soren, Kejriwal ji, several ministers and leaders of different states including Delhi, Jharkhand, Tamil Nadu are being targeted.”
Ramesh’s comments came a day after the AAP’s Delhi convener Gopal Rai said the rally was “against the arrest of Shri Arvind Kejriwal and to save the country’s democracy”. Rai added, “The tyranny in Delhi has escalated to the point where the Chief Minister has been arrested, and everyone is gathering in the mega rally to express their concern. The way dictatorial tendencies are being executed, democracy is being murdered, and elected Chief Ministers of the opposition are being arrested, it’s wrong, and voices will be raised against it in the mega rally.”
Rai termed the Ramlila Maidan the “birthplace of movements”. It happens to be the place where the India Against Corruption movement spearheaded by social activist Anna Hazare was centred in 2011, ultimately leading to the birth of the AAP and creating the momentum that ultimately led to the ousting of the Congress-led UPA government from power at the Centre.
An AAP leader, however, clarified that the effort was to project the rally as one crucial for the country and not just the AAP and Delhi. “This is an open call … and a big issue that goes beyond just the AAP,” said a party leader.
Among those who are expected to participate in the rally are Jharkhand CM Champai Soren, Hemant Soren’s wife Kalpana, NCP (Sharadchandra Pawar) chief Sharad Pawar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav, CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury, CPI general secretary D Raja, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah, PDP chief Mehbooba Mufti, SP president Akhilesh Yadav, DMK’s Tiruchi Siva, and TMC’s Derek O’Brien.
Since the formation of the alliance in June 2023, the alliance has seen elections to four state Assemblies, the desertions of key members such as Nitish Kumar and Jayant Chaudhary, the failure to strike up seat-sharing pacts in West Bengal, and the arrests of Soren and Kejriwal.
While earlier this month the RJD organised a large public meeting in Patna and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra culminated with a rally in Mumbai, only a few INDIA bloc leaders attended both events. The Sunday rally will be the first joint event where leaders from most partners are expected to be present. The Congress, one of the biggest constituents of the alliance, is expected to raise the matter of Income-Tax Department notices that it has been served, including fresh notices for Rs 1,745 crore and taking the total demand of the tax authorities to roughly Rs 3,567 crores. The CPI too received an I-T notice on Friday.
The Congress is planning to mobilise 2,000 to 3,000 of its supporters before Rahul Gandhi arrives at the event. “This will be exclusively for Congress workers and begin early on Sunday. We will march to the venue where the crowd of supporters from several parties whose leaders will attend it will finally culminate,” said a Congress leader.
Meanwhile, the rally will bring together the TMC — which is contending with the Sandeshkhali violence and CBI summons to Mahua Moitra — and the Congress. The two parties are pitched against each other in West Bengal while the Left and the Congress are fighting each other in Kerala.
