Up in arms against Baghel govt’s new protest rules, BJP holds ‘Jail Bharo’; 2,000 detained

The BJP has called for a state-wide agitation against the Baghel government’s bid to regulate protests and demonstrations, alleging that the Congress dispensation was trying to clamp down on dissent just like it had done at the national level by imposing the Emergency in mid-1970s.

Leader of Opposition Dharamlal Kaushik and senior BJP leader Brijmohan Agarwal, along with many party workers, were detained in Bilaspur and Raipur respectively during the “Jail Bharo” stir.

In Raipur the BJP protesters were taken to Central Jail, while in Janjgir they were detained in a makeshift jail, police said.

Speaking to media persons before he was detained, Agarwal charged that the Congress government has been functioning in an “autocratic way”. “The government is acting in a way reminiscent of the times of Emergency. They are trying to suppress the voice of people. That is why we are protesting, and will even go to jail across the state,” he said.

Hitting out at the Baghel government, former CM Raman Singh said its action betrayed “desperation”. “Across the state, people are unhappy with the Congress regime. The unsatisfactory performance of the government has pushed every strata of the society to protest. In desperation, they have brought forth a black law against the freedom of expression, which is reminiscent of the Emergency period. The BJP will fight it tooth and nail,” he said.

The BJP has been gunning for the Baghel government over its new regulations on events like protests, demonstrations and rallies. According to these guidelines issued by the state home department last month, prior permission from the district administration will be mandatory for holding such events, even as the organisers will have to submit video and audio recordings of their entire events within three days of holding them.

Preparing for Monday’s stir for the past few weeks, the BJP seems to have decided to be on the offensive as it gears up for the state Assembly elections due in December 2023. This agitation centred around a significant public issue is being monitored by the saffron party’s central leadership. “The party leadership is eager to see how many of our state leaders are still effective in on-the-ground politics and are able to make an impact. It is a trial run for other protests and campaigns in the future (ahead of the Assembly polls),” party sources said.

The Congress, however, dismissed the BJP’s campaign and rejected its charges. “BJP is bereft of issues in the state. Its protest today has shown how they’ve built a campaign of lies. There’s no curtailing of protests in the state, nor is there any attack on freedom of expression. They have lost support of the public and are fabricating issues to create unrest in the state,” the Chhattisgarh Pradesh Congress Committee said in a statement.

“The norms the BJP is protesting against are all usual norms, which had been in place even under their government for 15 years,” the ruling party added.

The government’s new protest norms were framed days after various agitations against it raged in capital Raipur in March. Subsequently, the make-shift tents of agitating farmers as well as the electricity department’s contractual employees, who had been protesting over their respective demands, were dismantled and the protesters driven out from there.

However, the protests on various issues have since continued in several locations across the state. The Congress has claimed that the norms were revised so that general public are not disturbed due to protests, and to ensure that “anti-social elements do not thus get the opportunity to create a ruckus”.