'Rahul told us to be ready at 24 hours notice for protest': Anish Gawande

File photo: NCP(SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande

NEW DELHI: NCP(SP) spokesperson Anish Gawande sharply criticised the arrest of CJP leaders Saurav Das and Ashutosh Ranka, calling the preventive arrest 'bizarre'. Gawande also said Rahul Gandhi had asked the INDIA bloc to be ready at 24 hours’ notice for further protests, as the bloc seeks Supreme Court intervention over the arrests and other concerns related to the Election Commission.He questioned the trespassing FIR against them and asked Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar whether he supported the action against young protesters at Jantar Mantar.“This preventive arrest is bizarre. What is the actual complaint? Trespassing, filed by the JD(U)?” Gawande said, calling it a “sad day for the JD(U) and an even sadder day for Indian democracy”.

Das and Ranka were detained early Tuesday after allegedly breaching barricades and entering Jantar Mantar, recently denotified as a designated protest site, while raising slogans demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.

The police case includes charges of trespassing, violating prohibitory orders, breaching a peace bond and obstructing a public servant.Gawande invoked Nitish Kumar’s background in student politics and the JP movement, asking whether the Bihar chief minister supported the FIR against young people who, he said, were trying to wave the national flag at Jantar Mantar.

He also said the INDIA bloc had been asked by leader of opposition Rahul Gandhi to remain ready at 24 hours’ notice for further protests.

The bloc expects the Supreme Court to address what Gawande described as an illegal FIR, alleged police brutality and concerns over the functioning of the Election Commission, including Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar.The arrest follows protests by CJP and other organisations over alleged irregularities in the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls. On October 11, Delhi Police Commissioner Anurag Kumar designated Ramlila Maidan, Burari Ground and CBD Ground as venues for demonstrations, removing Jantar Mantar from the list of approved protest sites. CJP has argued that shifting protests away from the capital’s political centre reduces the visibility of dissent.