Top leaders from India’s opposition INDIA alliance and thousands of their supporters held a massive rally in the capital on Sunday, denouncing what they termed the “autocracy” of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
The protest was sparked by the recent arrest of Arvind Kejriwal, the Chief Minister of Delhi and a key opposition figure, in a long-running corruption probe ahead of general elections due in 2024.
The “Save Democracy (Loktantra Bachao)” rally at Ramlila Maidan grounds saw fiery speeches from two dozen political parties united against the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) under the INDIA (Indian National Developmental Inclusive Alliance) banner.
“If the BJP succeeds, the Constitution will be changed and people’s rights taken away,” warned former Congress president Rahul Gandhi. “This is not an ordinary election but one to save our democracy and Constitution.”
Peoples Democratic Party chief Mehbooba Mufti accused the central government of jailing people without proper investigation. “I’m not talking about Umar Khalid or Mohammad Zubair, but your elected representatives,” she said, referring to Kejriwal’s detention by the Enforcement Directorate.
Tejashwi Yadav of Bihar’s Rashtriya Janata Dal branded Modi’s BJP as “egoistical” and claimed the country’s biggest issues were inflation and unemployment. “We have come together to save the constitution,” he stated.
Prominent opposition figures in attendance included Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Uddhav Thackeray, Derek O’Brien, Akhilesh Yadav and others from parties like the Aam Aadmi Party, Congress, Trinamool Congress, Nationalist Congress Party and Samajwadi Party.
The opposition is seeking to consolidate anti-BJP votes and capitalize on perceived discontent over Kejriwal’s arrest, inflation, joblessness and other economic troubles ahead of next year’s crucial Lok Sabha elections.
