INDIA bloc rally: Tejashwi invokes Mahabharata, Left questions crackdown on protests

New Delhi: With Opposition parties putting up a united front at Delhi’s Ramlila Maidan on Sunday to protest against the 'illegal' Special Intensive Revision (SIR) and CEC Gyanesh Kumar, RJD leader Tejashwi Yadav invoked Mahabharata and the battle of Kurukshetra to hit out at the Centre while the Left parties slammed the government for the thrashing and imprisonment of the "fighters of democracy".

Addressing the INDIA Bloc rally, RJD Working President Tejashwi Yadav drew a parallel between the protest and the 'Mahabharata' and invoked characters from the Hindu epic, including Shakuni, to state that the Opposition was compelled to fight this battle.

He said that the Ramlila Maidan has been traditionally known for Ramlila, but today the opposition has organised a 'Mahabharata' for those who steal votes.

"You all know Mahabharata started from gambling and not from the battlefield. Now that Shakuni is playing his game, we are forced to turn this into Kurukshetra. Whenever Shakuni rolled his dice, it would land exactly as Shakuni dictated - meaning there was dishonesty, and there was no level playing field,: the RJD leader said, while asking who was Shakuni and where the dice was in the "vote chori" exercise.

Further, sharpening his attack on Gyanesh Kumar, he demanded that the incumbent CEC be tried for treason for snatching the voting rights of citizens and stifling India’s democracy.

"This Gyanesh Kumar is a puppet of Narendra Modi. A case of treason should be registered against him, and he should be sent to jail so that in the future, no individual ever dares to destroy our nation's democracy, crush our democracy, or tamper with our Constitution," he demanded.

Left Front leaders lambasted the Modi government over ‘shrinking’ liberty and democratic values.

AISA President Neha Bora accused the government of discriminating against a certain class of citizens and lashed out at ‘declining’ standards of freedom and speech.

She asked why the BJP government was so intolerant of the protests on the streets and was using police force for a brutal crackdown on Indian citizens.

“Who are you to ask the people of India to prove their citizenship? You have adopted the very tactics that your forefathers, the Britishers, used to employ. Your forefathers made the freedom fighters sign peace bonds and sent them to jail. You are doing the same to people out on streets, protesting against your discriminatory policies. You are putting people behind bars, beating and caning people protesting with Tiranga in their hands," she said.

Hailing the huge turnout of people at the Opposition’s rally, she said that this was a testament to India’s glorious history and vibrant democracy, warning that the ‘tyrants’ won’t stand the test of time and will eventually be rooted out.

"You think that you will remain seated in Parliament, keeping the seats intact. You claim that the independence was achieved in 2014 and India’s history will end with the BJP. This is not going to last forever,” she said.

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