In a significant show of force, Varanasi police on Thursday arrested scores of Congress workers and confined senior party leaders to their homes to prevent a planned protest march. The demonstration was called to denounce the alleged political misuse of central investigative agencies against the party's top leadership.
Protest Plan and Police Pre-emption
The Congress had called for its workers to gather near the Sardar Patel statue at Maldahiya crossing and march towards the Bharatiya Janata Party's office in Gulab Bagh. The protest aimed to highlight what the party termed as vendetta politics through the misuse of the Enforcement Directorate (ED) against Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi in the 'Young Indian' case.
However, anticipating the march, police took pre-emptive action early in the morning. Several senior Congress leaders and office-bearers, including city president Raghavendra Choubey, were confined to their residences. A heavy police contingent was strategically deployed along the entire route from Maldahiya to Gulab Bagh to seal off the area.
Arrests at the Crossing
Despite the restrictions, a determined group of Congress leaders and workers managed to reach the Maldahiya crossing. There, they succeeded in garlanding the statue of Sardar Patel as a symbolic start to their protest. However, their attempt to proceed with the march towards the BJP office was swiftly halted.
Police arrested 18 protestors on the spot and subsequently sent them to the Police Lines. The police action and the resultant commotion led to a temporary disruption of traffic at the busy Maldahiya intersection, causing inconvenience to commuters.
Political Accusations and Official Justification
Reacting strongly to the police action, Congress city chief Raghavendra Choubey condemned the move. He stated that preventing them from exercising their democratic right to protest was a cowardly act by the BJP and the police. Choubey asserted that the protest was organized after it became clear that the ED's actions against Sonia and Rahul Gandhi were completely illegal and politically motivated.
The Congress leadership accused the central government of attempting to suppress the opposition's voice by misusing investigative agencies. On the other hand, the police defended their stringent measures. Commissioner of Police Mohit Agrawal, who personally monitored the arrangements, clarified that the designated site for staging protests in Varanasi is Shastri Ghat.
He further stated that the party had the option to submit a memorandum to the district administration through a delegation. Agrawal emphasized that if the Congress intended to hold a march or any similar event, they should have sought prior permission. He concluded that all police actions were solely aimed at maintaining law and order in the city.
