Five decades on, ‘save democracy’ call echoes again at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan

On February 7, 1977, with India’s democratic fabric torn asunder by Indira Gandhi’s Emergency, an Opposition grossly divided by ideology but united in political ambition had rallied behind Jayaprakash Narayan’s clarion call for an overthrow of the Congress regime. From Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan, Narayan, or JP, as he was popularly called, urged the poll-bound country to choose between “azaadi ya ghulami (freedom or slavery)”.

On Sunday (March 31), as leaders of the Opposition’s INDIA bloc gathered at the Ramlila Maidan to address a Loktantra Bachao (Save Democracy) rally, the clock had, indeed, turned full circle for Delhi’s iconic ground that has been not just a venue for annual Ramlila jamborees but, in a sense, also the birthplace of anti-establishment movements.

The JP movement

JP had returned to Ramlila Maidan in 1977, two years after asserting, from the same venue, the need for sampoorn kranti (total revolution) to end Indira’s authoritarian regime. The success of JP’s movement in installing India’s first non-Congress government may have been short-lived, as the Janata government collapsed under the weight of its own contradictions within two years of assuming office and paved the way for Indira’s return to office. Yet, in more ways than it is credited for, the JP movement, arguably, was an early precursor to the Congress’s nationwide decline.

Nearly five decades later, as sundry INDIA leaders urged the Indian voter from the Ramlila Maidan to oust Narendra Modi’s “dictatorial government” in the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls, the anti-Congressism that JP piloted had been evidently replaced by an anti-BJP — or more specifically, anti-Modi – rhetoric. The excesses and failures that the Congress, under Indira, was accused of 47 years ago, now formed the crux of the broadside that the Grand Old Party and its allies, including the Janata alliance’s former constituents and their offshoots, were hurling at Modi’s BJP.

Five demands

The INDIA leaders urged the electorate to “save democracy and the Constitution” and end the BJP’s “undeclared Emergency”, while listing five demands, read out at the rally’s conclusion by Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi. The demands include the Election Commission’s intervention to ensure a “level playing field” for the Opposition in the upcoming election by stopping the Enforcement Directorate, CBI, and the Income Tax department’s actions against Opposition parties during poll-season, the immediate release of Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal and his former Jharkhand counterpart Hemant Soren from the ED’s custody, an immediate end to the Centre’s efforts to “financially cripple” Opposition parties and a Supreme Court-monitored SIT into the BJP’s “extortion” of funds through the scrapped Electoral Bonds scheme.

With the alliance having suffered major setbacks over the past few months due to the exit of constituents such as Nitish Kumar’s JD (U), Jayant Chaudhary’s RLD, and Prakash Ambedkar’s VBA and the failed seat-sharing negotiations between the Congress and Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress for Bengal’s 42 Lok Sabha seats, Sunday’s rally provided some optimism to the INDIA bloc.

Slogans galore

Besides the impressive lakh-strong crowd that it attracted, the rally also saw INDIA leaders holding no punches while hitting out at the BJP. From RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav’s likening of Modi’s regime to that of “Kansa Raj” and the Prime Minister’s poll-time guarantees to “Chinese maal” to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s “match fixing” analogy alluding to the possibility of a rigged election and from Shiv Sena (UBT) chief Uddhav Thackeray’s slogan of “Abki Baar, BJP Tadipaar” to Trinamool Congress leader Derek O’Brien’s “Modi Guarantee, Zero Warrantee” jibe, there was no dearth of potent poll slogans that came out of the Loktantra Bachao rally.

In what could well be the most ironic moment of the rally — perhaps even more so than the Congress-AAP tie up — was CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury’s reference to a tale from Hindu religious texts to emphasise the “dubiousness” of Modi’s “Amrit Kaal”. An unapologetic atheist, Yechury referred to samudra manthan — the churning of the ocean as per Hindu mythology — and said that the mythical story spoke of how the Gods received poison from the ocean’s churning while the elixir went to the demons.

“Today that pot of elixir (Amrit) is with the bad people and we have to bring it back to those who will work for the benefit of the country... that is what Amrit Kaal should mean,” Yechury said.

Morale booster for AAP

For the AAP, the rally’s principal organiser, the rally also came as a huge morale booster at a time when its chief mascot, Arvind Kejriwal, is under the ED’s custody and the possibility of him campaigning for his party in the Lok Sabha polls looks bleak. The AAP managed to get nearly the entire top rung of the INDIA coalition, including former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, who made a rare public appearance even though she did not address the rally, as well as Trinamool’s O’Brien who asserted that despite the failed seat-sharing talks his party remains committed to the bloc, to publicly express solidarity with Kejriwal.

The AAP convener, who has defiantly refused to step down as Delhi CM despite his arrest, also sent a message that was read out at the rally by his wife, Sunita Kejriwal. Also among the speakers at the rally was Kalpana Soren, wife of jailed former Jharkhand CM Hemant Soren. The INDIA leaders made it a point to reassure Sunita and Kalpana that they had the full support and solidarity of all coalition constituents. Sonia, who till a decade ago was at the receiving end of some of Kejriwal’s most caustic jibes, not only made it a point to attend the rally but sat next to Sunita, held her hands and, according to a leader who was seated in the row behind the two, told the Delhi CM’s wife, “We are all with you, don’t worry.”

Mistrust and disconnect

Yet, despite the INDIA bloc’s impressive show of unity, there were also some inescapable signs of lingering mistrust and disconnect between some of the allies. In a move that took many leaders by surprise, Kejriwal’s message at the rally mentioned “six guarantees” that the AAP was giving to “all voters of the country”. Kejriwal’s guarantees, read out by Sunita, mentioned that if the INDIA bloc comes to power, “we will give free electricity to everyone, set up mohalla clinics in every corner of the country....” Though Sunita mentioned that her husband “apologised to all INDIA leaders for giving these guarantees without asking you... I am in jail so I can’t speak to you”, several INDIA leaders The Federal spoke to said it was “not proper” for Kejriwal to have sent a message that “announced guarantees unilaterally” especially when the alliance had decided to put forth a five-point demand, read out by Priyanka, at the rally.

Similarly, Trinamool leaders O’Brien and Sagarika Ghosh, though asserting their party’s commitment to the INDIA bloc, refrained from criticising the BJP over the freezing of the Congress’s bank accounts. Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge also took a veiled jibe at Punjab CM and AAP leader Bhagwant Mann by asserting that for the electoral success of the INDIA bloc it was imperative for all constituents “to unite” and not do anything that is counter-productive. The AAP and the Congress have stitched an alliance in Delhi, Gujarat, and Haryana but refused to do so for the 13 Lok Sabha seats of Punjab. What has, however, irked the Congress leadership more is the impression that Mann has been using intimidation tactics similar to the BJP against Punjab Congress leaders and even poaching some leaders of the Grand Old Party.

Jarring notes

“I request the Punjab chief minister, learn to unite and don’t think about breaking one another... we will succeed only if we fight as one; if we try to crush each other, we will never succeed... we may have differences... Yechury, D Raja and us (Left Parties and the Congress), we fight each other in Kerala but here, for a larger cause, likewise, we may fight the AAP in Punjab but for this national stage, for the unity of the country, we have to stand together,” Kharge said.

With the seven-phase Lok Sabha elections set to begin on April 19, these discordant and disjointed notes do not behove well for an alliance that is already pitched for a difficult battle against its formidable rival. Repeated assertions by INDIA leaders Tejashwi, Akhilesh Yadav, Rahul Gandhi and others of fears about the impending polls being rigged already to ensure a “400 paar” (400 plus seats) victory for the BJP also betray the confidence that the Opposition has in the electoral prospects of its alliance — something JP stridently avoided despite the odds that were stacked against his motley group in 1977.