Congress president Rahul Gandhi with RJD’s Tejashwi Yadav, LJD’s Sharad Yadav, CPI’s D Raja and other leaders during the protest against Muzaffarpur sexual abuse. (Express Photo by Amit Mehra)
DAYS AFTER BJP president Amit Shah dismissed the possibility of the Opposition doing a repeat of Bihar ‘maha-gathbandhan’, or grand alliance, against the BJP-led NDA in 2019 Lok Sabha polls, leaders of a dozen opposition parties shared a platform here on Saturday and emphasised the need to “unseat” the NDA – from both the Centre and in states.
With the sexual abuse cases at a shelter home in Muzaffarpur, in NDA-governed Bihar, as the pivot, the event was organised by the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) at Jantar Mantar, the ‘protest venue’ in the national capital.
Earlier, in May, 12 opposition parties had shared the dais at the swearing-in of H D Kumarasway as Karnataka chief minister. In June, four chief ministers from Opposition-governed states had thrown their weight behind Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal’s protest against the Lt Governor and the Centre.
On Saturday, the resolve to send out a fresh message of unity was made clear by Congress president Rahul Gandhi, who spoke towards the end, as he that the “opposition stands united” against the BJP’s “assault” on India’s history and culture. Soon as Rahul arrived, the leaders stood up, held each other’s hands, and raised them in a show of unity.
“As you can see, the Opposition stands united,” Rahul said. “On one hand, you have the ideology of the BJP and the RSS, and on the other is the entire country. In the coming days, the entire country will see this – the Prime Minister and the BJP will (also) see this.”
Maintaining that people do not like “whatever has happened” in the four years since the Narendra Modi-led government took office, Rahul said, “India stands united against the assault on its history and culture. And when India makes up its mind, no power can stand in front of it.”
Leaders from the Congress, Trinamool Congress, RJD, Samajwadi Party, CPI(M), CPI, DMK, Aam Aadmi Party (AAP), and Indian National Lok Dal shared the stage. The RLD’s Jayant Chaudhary lent support through a written message. RJD national spokesperson Manoj Jha told The Sunday Express that the BSP also extended solidarity through a message.
Loktrantik Janta Dal mentor Sharad Yadav, who had a bitter fallout with the Nitish Kumar-led JD(U), and former Bihar CM Jitan Ram Manjhi of HAMS were also present. Launching a scathing attack on Nitish, Tejashwi said Bihar is going through “rakshash raj” (demon’s days) under “Paltu babu”, a reference to Nitish changing sides. “We have come here because Chacha’s (Nitish’s) conscience does not seem to be responding,” he said.
“Bihar mein jungle raaj nahi, rakshash raj aa gaya hai. Daily Duryodhan Draupadi ka cheerharan kar raha hai; Ravan Sita ka apaharan kar raha hai (Not jungle raj, but demon’s rule has come to Bihar. Duryodhan is trying to disrobe disrobe Draupadi and Ravan is abducting Sita every day).”
The state government, Tejashwi said, has “completely failed” to maintain law and order. “We are not demanding his resignation, but the people are watching. It is up to them – vote for whoever you want, but should a CM who shielded criminals not be taken to task,” he asked.
Tejashwi also sought to play down political significance of the event by stating it was essentially a non-political platform: “When we raise our voice, people label it as political stunt. I have said before that this dharna will not be political. Only those who want perpetrators of the crime (in Muzaffarpur) to be punished have come together.”
Taking on Nitish, Rahul said that if the Bihar Chief Minister is actually “ashamed” of the sexual abuse on minor girls at the shelter home, it should reflect in his actions. “We have come here to send a message that we are with women, we are with the children, and we are not going to backtrack,” he said.
AAP chief and Delhi CM Arvind Kejriwal referred to the December 2012 delhi gangrape and murder case and said, “When one Nirbhaya was brutalised, the UPA was rattled. Here we have 40 Nirbhayas who are victims (in Muzaffarpur). And if the people in power do not realise this, then people of the country will topple them 40 times.”
Kejriwal, who left the venue before Rahul arrived, demanded that perpetrators of the crime be given capital punishment, and the case be probed within three months. He said: “A vicious environment has been created in the country. BJP supporters are hounding senior journalists on social media – they didn’t even spare Union minister Sushma Swaraj.” But the BJP, eh said, is not “reining in these unscrupulous elements”.
CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury maintained that everything is taking place under the “patronage” of the BJP and NDA. “The slogan has changed from ‘beti bachao’ (save the girl child) to ‘BJP se beti bachao (save the girls from BJP),” he said. Student leaders Kanhaiya Kumar and Shehla Rashid were also on the dais.