Congress leader Rahul Gandhi reaches out to shake hands with supporters from an open vehicle during the rally in New Delhi (Photos: Media India Group/Aman Kanojiya)
Youth from across India were amongst the tens of thousands of protesters from across the country that had gathered at Ramlila Maidan in New Delhi on Sunday, at a rally called by the Leader of the Opposition and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, and which gained support from various parties that are members of the INDIA political alliance, led by the Congress.
At the protest, participants demanded answers from the government and the Election Commission. For Shubham Tiwari, a resident of Damoh in Madhya Pradesh, the right to vote was closely connected to decisions about his future. He said he had come to the gathering because he believed young people’s electoral rights were being undermined.
“I have come here today for my right to vote. We have come here so that our voices are heard. Our vote is our strength, and we want our rights to be protected,” Tiwari told Media India Group.
He added that young voters had been deprived of their rights and demanded an investigation into the accusations of vote theft. He said that the Election Commission was duty-bound to answer the questions raised by protesters.
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“If young people’s votes are not secure, how will we decide our future? This is not just an issue concerning one state or one person. It is a question of the rights of young people across the country,” he said.
Tiwari said participants had come from Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Punjab, Chhattisgarh and Haryana. By his account, the gathering reflected a concern shared by young people from different states: whether they could trust their votes to help determine who governs them.
Tiwari also referred to a call for supporters from different states to march towards Delhi on November 25. He said young people would continue speaking up for their rights and urged the government to consider their future.
Arun Malik, a protester from Delhi, said that the people’s real mandate needed to be respected by ensuring free and fair polls. “We want the people’s mandate to be respected. Elections should be fair, and every vote should be counted honestly,” Malik told Media India Group.
Questions over jobs and accountability
The participants’ concerns ranged from jobs and daily expenses to equal treatment and the freedom to protest. Across their accounts, voting was the link between these issues and the ability to demand change from those in power.
Malik linked his concerns about elections to frustration over prices and unemployment. He said ordinary people were struggling and wanted the government to explain what it had done to address their problems.
“People elected the government with hope, but today they are struggling. We want the government to answer people’s questions,” Malik said.
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Malik also criticised the government’s handling of the currency denominations after the controversial demonetisation exercise of 2016 after which a note of INR 2,000 was introduced.
“(Prime Minister Narendra) Modi introduced the INR 2,000 note. If the government could not keep even that note in circulation, how can it run the country?” Malik asked.
For him, the ability to choose a government and question its decisions were connected.
“If people’s votes are not secure, how will they choose a government of their choice? In a democracy, the people’s vote is their greatest strength,” he said.
Malik said that Modi should resign and that the Election Commission needed to explain the actions it had taken about the allegations of electoral irregularities. He also raised concerns about students’ freedom to protest and the treatment of women.
“The government’s job is to protect people. Students have the right to speak up for their rights. Women should be treated with respect and kept safe,” he said.
Handcuffs as a symbol of protest
Chetan Solanki, a protester from Rajasthan, described a different way of making the same demand to be heard. He and his fellow demonstrators had chosen to wear handcuffs and chains as part of their protest.
“We have come here wearing handcuffs so that the police do not have to bring any for us today,” Solanki said.
He alleged that Congress leaders and workers faced arrests and false cases when they spoke against the government. Wearing the handcuffs voluntarily, he explained, was intended to draw attention to what he saw as attempts to silence opposition voices.
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“These handcuffs are a symbol of our protest. We will not back down out of fear. Our aim is to raise our voice to defend people’s right to vote and democracy,” he said.
Describing himself and his fellow protesters as supporters of Rahul Gandhi, Solanki said they had arrived with the message “Vote Bachao, Desh Bachao”, or “Save the Vote, Save the Country”. He wanted the government and administration to recognise their right to raise questions.
Neha Bora addresses the rally
Addressing the rally from the stage, student leader Neha Bora, President of the All India Students’ Association (AISA), connected the campaign over electoral rolls with wider questions of equality. She praised those gathered for standing together and resisting what she described as religious prejudice, caste discrimination and patriarchy.
“You are shaping what democracy will look like. You are defining what a shared struggle will look like,” she said during her address.
Bora accused Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar of favouring the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and demanded his resignation.
“He should perhaps give up the title of Chief Election Commissioner and declare himself the BJP’s election manager,” she said in her speech.
Referring to the Special Intensive Revision of the electoral rolls in Karnataka, she alleged that thousands of applications affecting voter records had been submitted without voters’ knowledge. She also pointed to alleged irregularities in Uttar Pradesh, West Bengal and Uttarakhand.
She also raised concerns about the effect of voter deletions on women and Muslims. Her criticism focussed on the possibility of people losing their say in elections and the implications for their right to equality.
“There must be a complete rollback of the SIR,” Bora demanded.
