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Rahul Gandhi Takes Center Stage in Opposition Protests
Rahul Gandhi and his sister Priyanka joined several protests in Delhi.
They were asking for changes to the voter-roll process called SIR and for election chief Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
Rahul Gandhi has said he believes the election system is unfair to his party.
The protests followed a police crackdown on students and young people on July 20.
Another group, the CJP, and Left student unions have also organized protests, but the CJP has not teamed up with Congress.
Some Congress and INDIA bloc members thought the Gandhi siblings became too central to the protests.
Others said their actions helped Congress make its case.
Congress’s student group planned to help students coming to Delhi for a protest called for October 10.
Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi were prominent in Delhi protests for four consecutive days.
The protests demanded scrapping the SIR and the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
The article says Rahul Gandhi had raised concerns about electoral rolls before the latest campaign.
The CJP and Left student unions called for a street protest in Delhi on October 10, without the CJP coordinating with Congress.
Some Congress and INDIA bloc figures welcomed the Gandhi siblings’ leadership, while others worried it overshadowed wider participation.
- Who
- Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra led prominent Congress actions, while the INDIA bloc, CJP and Left student unions were also involved in the wider protest movement.
- What
- Opposition protests called for scrapping the SIR and for Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar to resign.
- Where
- Delhi, including Jantar Mantar, Parliament Street and Raj Ghat.
- When
- The article describes protests during the week it was written, following a July 20 police crackdown, and a further protest call for October 10.
- Why
- Rahul Gandhi and Congress leaders said they were challenging alleged electoral-roll discrepancies and what Gandhi believes is an electoral system rigged in favour of the BJP.
Congress-led campaign
Independent student movement
Who should lead the protests
Congress-led campaign
Some INDIA bloc leaders say Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s visible role helped the Congress take ownership of the campaign against SIR and Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
Independent student movement
The CJP and Left student unions have organized protests independently, and the CJP has not sought to work with the Congress; some Congress figures say its student and youth wings should have been more active.
The Gandhi siblings’ prominence
Congress-led campaign
Congress leaders argue that Rahul Gandhi had raised concerns about electoral rolls earlier and that his street protests reinforced the party’s message.
Independent student movement
Some INDIA bloc allies and Congress MPs reportedly felt Rahul and Priyanka Gandhi’s prominence made the protests look like a “sibling show.”
Key facts
- Main demand
- Scrap the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and seek the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.
- Congress figures at the protests
- Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra were prominent in Delhi street actions for four consecutive days.
- Earlier protest
- Police cracked down on students and young people on July 20, the first day of Parliament’s Monsoon Session.
- October 10 call
- The CJP and Left student unions called for street protests in Delhi.
- NSUI response
- The Congress student outfit planned a helpline for students arriving in Delhi and said its office and AICC headquarters would be open to them.
- Congress leader’s assessment
- One leader said the party had underestimated the Jantar Mantar protests and noted the CJP’s fresh faces, slogans and use of social-media reels.
- Earlier demand
- A Congress leader said Rahul Gandhi had called for Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan to resign in mid-May, before the CJP emerged.
Quotes
Senior Congress leader
A senior Congress leader commenting on the party’s response to the protests.
“See, Rahul was the first mainstream Opposition leader who called for the resignation of Dharmendra Pradhan as Education Minister. He demanded the minister’s resignation in the middle of May. The Cockroach Janta Party (CJP) was not in the picture then. But the inertia on the part of the Congress meant the demand remained only on paper. Much like the BJP and the government, we too underestimated the Jantar Mantar protests initially.”
indianexpress.com
“Our student and youth wings should have been on the streets. To be fair, they did some protests, but we have to admit that there is a difference between a political protest and a protest which the CJP led … new outfit, new leaders, there was a freshness in terms of slogans, faces, medium, reels, and all, and it clicked. But Jantar Mantar reinforced the power of street protests in a democracy.”
indianexpress.com
Sources
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