Crowd optics overshadow INDIA bloc's protest against SIR

The INDIA bloc’s rally at Delhi’s historic Ramlila Maidan on November 1 may have ended, but what followed was a different political battle over crowd optics. A protest over the Election Commission, the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and alleged voter disenfranchisement turned into a war over empty chairs, crowd estimates and drone footage.

How big was the crowd?

More than 24 hours after the rally ended, the political contest over its success was still raging. While INDIA bloc leaders presented the gathering as a major show of opposition unity, the BJP appeared equally invested in showing the event failed to draw a crowd.

BJP leaders, ministers, MPs and spokespersons had closely monitored the rally, examining how many chairs were occupied and how many remained empty.

Also read: Modi, Shah won’t escape law: Opposition at Delhi rally over 'vote chori' charge

Soon after the rally concluded, BJP MP and spokesperson Sambit Patra addressed a press conference and called the INDIA bloc's gathering a flop show. The BJP questioned the Congress over its earlier claim that 10 lakh people would attend the rally. According to the BJP, only 28,000 chairs had been arranged at the venue, of which 5,000 to 7,000 remained vacant.

The crowd optics

The Congress hit back by posting a video on social media, accusing the BJP of spreading propaganda and asserting that such tactics would no longer work.

Reacting to the video, Parliamentary Affairs Minister Kiren Rijiju alleged that the Congress had used artificial intelligence to exaggerate the size of the crowd at the rally.

The Congress's INDIA bloc ally, Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) working president Tejashwi Yadav, also questioned the BJP's reaction. If the rally had been a failure, he asked, why was the BJP so rattled and so determined to prove it?

The dispute has now evolved into a battle over competing images and competing claims over authenticity of the images, and the strength of the crowd. However, there is no independently verified figure for the total number of people who attended the rally.

Also read: INDIA bloc eyes momentum for Ramlila rally with ‘public impeachment’ of CEC Kumar

Ramlila Maidan has a seating capacity of around one lakh people. But the number of chairs arranged for an event is not necessarily an accurate measure of its total attendance.

Movement of people impacted

While the political parties were debating over the size of the crowd, there were allegations that the difficulties faced by people trying to reach the venue and the indirect restrictions may have impacted people from reaching the venue.

Speaking to The Federal Desh, people who attended the rally said that those travelling from Haryana faced considerable difficulties. From November 1, the Delhi government had enforced a rule restricting entry into the capital to BS-VI-compliant vehicles. As a result, several vehicles arriving from Haryana, Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan that did not meet the prescribed emission standards were stopped at the borders.

People said this prevented many from reaching Ramlila Maidan for the rally. The restrictions may not have been directed specifically at the INDIA bloc gathering, but their timing and impact meant that they posed an additional hurdle for those travelling to attend it.

Also read: INDIA bloc stages mega rally in Delhi; Amit Shah shifts focus to anti-Sikh riots

There was another factor affecting the movement of people around the venue. Leader of Opposition at the Lok Sabha and Congress MP Rahul Gandhi had announced that he would reach Ramlila Maidan in a march from Minto Road. As a result, the crowd was not confined to the ground itself. According to The Federal Desh’s on-the-ground observations, while people had gathered inside the venue, a larger number were also present around Connaught Place, Minto Road and outside Ramlila Maidan.

The rally had also been preceded by heavy rain in Delhi, which left parts of Ramlila Maidan waterlogged. Congress Seva Dal workers, however, had put in considerable effort to prepare the ground for the gathering.

A larger political battle

The crowd controversy has, in many ways, overshadowed the original purpose of the gathering. The INDIA bloc had organised the rally to protest against the SIR exercise, the alleged deletion of more than 13 crore voters' names from electoral rolls, and to demand the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The Opposition had sought to make it a collective political campaign, questioning the impartiality of the Election Commission. Yet, the day after the rally, BJP leaders were holding press conferences in defence of the poll body, arguing that anyone whose name had been deleted could apply again through Form 6 to get their name included in the electoral roll.

At the rally, the INDIA bloc also held a mock Parliament, which passed an impeachment resolution against Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.