NEW DELHI: Opposition parties on Saturday lashed out at govt over wide security curbs to foil the Cockroach Janta Party’s call for protest at Jantar Mantar but a defiant BJP backed the clampdown, saying Parliament, and not streets, will run the country.BJP president Nitin Nabin alleged two anarchic groups – one of the INDIA bloc and another led by Arvind Kejriwal and his “associate” CJP, were seeking to stoke unrest in the country and were in a battle of one-upmanship over spreading chaos: “They are working in collusion with foreign forces to destabilise India.”Congress, which kept away from Saturday’s protests, lent its support to the agitating youths and said their “peaceful” stir has left govt rattled and nervous.Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi said, “Youth of India, I am proud of you. Keep protesting. We are standing with you. I have been fighting Narendra Modi and the RSS for over a decade now. The core characteristic of these people is cowardice.”“Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Mohan Bhagwat, Gyanesh Kumar and Ajit Doval, the villains of this story, are slowly finding the space closing around them. We are closing that space,” he added, claiming that govt may further ramp up security measures but protests over the SIR issue will continue.A combative BJP was, however, categorical that CJP, which had “broken” the conditions under which their members were allowed to launch their stir in July, could not have been allowed to “hijack” Jantar Mantar again. “Democracy has prevailed over anarchy. The country will be governed through Parliament, not the streets. The country cannot be run by spreading anarchy on the streets,” Ravi Shankar Prasad said.BJP says protest a flop; oppn puts united frontSpeaking at the sixth edition of his youth outreach programme, ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ at Chennai’s Island Grounds, Rahul said “Mogambo Modi” was destroying India’s democracy, referring to the PM. “Mr Modi doesn’t understand that the game is over,” he added. “I want to tell all the students in Delhi, do not worry. Stand up for everything you believe in and never stop asking questions,” Gandhi said, asserting, “We are standing with you.“SP president Akhilesh Yadav said, “Now, the nation will unite in Delhi! We stand with the youthful energy of the nation. If BJP govt thinks it can halt the people through the might of power, this will prove to be an even greater mistake on its part.” Left leaders, including M A Baby of CPM, D Raja of CPI and Dipankar Bhattacharya of CPI(ML), condemned the “widespread repression” unleashed by Delhi Police on peaceful protesters.BJP fielded an array of functionaries to counter the opposition, with Sambit Patra saying the protest turned out to be a flop show by “anarchist forces” and asserting that the national capital cannot be allowed to be held hostage by those stoking disorder.
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Patra alleged Rahul’s show of support to the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, over his potshots at the Indian govt’s policy is part of his wider efforts, including the campaign against SIR to “help” infiltrators, to draw backing from foreign players to destabilise India and called him Mir Jafar, an 18th-century military commander synonymous with treachery.’
