- 4 hours ago
A high-voltage panel discussion examines the massive police clampdown in New Delhi amid protests led by the INDIA bloc demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar. Congress national spokesperson Adil Singh Boparai questions the government's confidence, citing barricaded roads, metro station shutdowns, train cancellations, and internet suspensions in the national capital, terming it an 'undeclared emergency' and an elected autocracy. Countering these allegations, BJP national spokesperson Dr. Guru Prakash Paswan invokes Dr. B.R. Ambedkar to condemn the opposition's demonstrations as a 'grammar of anarchy' and reckless lawlessness driven by electoral defeats. Former Uttar Pradesh DGP A.K. Jain defends the Delhi Police's crowd control protocols, asserting that preventive measures and tight bandobast are vital to prevent chaos and avoid the use of force. Ground reports from Raisina Hill capture tensions as opposition MPs marching toward Rashtrapati Bhavan are stopped by multi-tier security barricades.
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00:00I want to quickly bring into this conversation Adel Singh Boparai of the Congress Party,
00:04Dr. Guru Prakash Paswan of the Bharatiya Janata Party, a.k.a. Jain is former Director General
00:08of the Uttar Pradesh Police. Now remember there is protest by the India Alliance and now protest
00:15by the Kaukruj Janata Party and various places in Delhi is virtually seeing a massive clampdown
00:25by the police on movement. We'll talk about that but Adel Singh Boparai, you want to quickly
00:29respond to Union Home Minister putting out this message that people have seen through
00:34the lies of Rahul Gandhi and the India Alliance and voted for the BJP, whether it is in Nandigram,
00:40Rejinagar or other places that the Home Minister talks about and the TVK winning seats in Tamil Nadu.
00:48Gaurav, if the BJP is indeed so popular, then why is there undeclared emergency in Delhi today?
00:57Why have 57 metro stations been shut in central Delhi? Why have hundreds of trains been cancelled?
01:05Why are the streets of Delhi barricaded? Why are students being put under house arrest?
01:12Why are young people being pulled out of trains from all over the country and being detained?
01:19This doesn't sit with the BJP's confidence. So the Home Minister can give this country as much
01:26spiel as he wants to. The fact of the matter is that there is a criminal enterprise which
01:32is underway. That criminal enterprise comprises of the Prime Minister, the Home Minister and
01:37Gyanesh Gupta and Gyanesh Gupta, and for which we are certain, we are resolute and we are determined
01:44that Gyanesh Kumar must put in his papers. This is the voice of the people of this country,
01:51point number one. Point number two, from a controversy which erupted from within the ECI,
01:58today what you are noticing is police brutality. What you are noticing is an autocracy in the
02:06national capital. Is this how democracies function? I have not heard that internet has been suspended.
02:13Fair enough. You have raised a point. Guru Prakash Paswan, Dr. Paswan, respond. Let's take this point
02:20by point. Let's take this point by point. This is autocracy. This is undeclared emergency. If the
02:28government or the BJP are so popular, why have 57 metro stations been put under restriction,
02:35internet cutoff, trains being cancelled? Dr. Paswan, Congress is asking you a direct question.
02:41No, Gaurav, we have to understand that this is not the first time. They have been doing this for the
02:45last 12 years. Autocracy, elected autocracy. But we have to understand that there is rule of law in
02:51this country. There is constitution of India. What we are witnessing by the opposition party is nothing
02:56but a grammar of anarchy. As said by Dr. Ambedkar, the unleashing of such lawlessness, anarchy and chaos
03:05on the streets of Delhi. We saw what happened yesterday. Priyanka Gandhi, she could be a member
03:10of parliament. She could be the leader of the Congress party. The way she was elbowing, violently
03:16elbowing a commoner, a policewoman in the sight of camera. Protest is allowed, but this is sheer
03:23recklessness. Dissent is allowed, but this is sheer anarchy. This is nothing, Gaurav, but frustration of
03:29the political ecosystem who have lost the faith, who have absolutely no faith by the people of India.
03:35We saw today what happened in the bipoles across the country in Tamil Nadu, in Rajasthan and in West
03:41Bengal. Year after year, elections after elections, you are losing. Or let me say very clearly that Mr.
03:48Rahul Gandhi, there should be a Corrigan and I'm issued, Gaurav, from 24 Akbar Road. That Mr. Rahul Gandhi is
03:53above the rule of law of this country. Mr. Madam Priyanka Gandhi is above the constitution of India. But
03:59sadly, that is not the case. Dr. Ambedkar and from the eye of Dr. Ambedkar, everyone is equal.
04:04Sir, give me a moment. I think they're getting live images. Is Priyanka Gandhi Wadra speaking?
04:09Sir, give me 30 seconds. Let's dip in. Sir, give me 30 seconds. Is Priyanka Gandhi Wadra speaking?
04:15Is she marching? Let me try and get our reporters from Ground Zero. Initially, initially they were
04:22all sitting on a dharna. Let's try and listen in.
04:48Bring in Piyush Mishra for more on this and Piyush is standing at that barricade. Piyush, what is this
04:53altercation about? There appears to be some altercation between members of parliament and
04:58political leaders who want to go to Rashubati Bhavan and police? What's happening, Piyush?
05:06Well, Gaurav, actually this confrontation is about the kind of demand which these MPs are putting
05:12forth. Remember that India Bloc MPs gathered there in parliament, parliament old building,
05:18Samvidan Satan and from there they all marched. But the permission was given to only 10 leaders of
05:24India Bloc to go towards the president's house. I'm right now standing at Raisina Hills and apart
05:31from the 10 India Bloc leaders, all of them were stopped. You can see this is the second layer of
05:37barricade which has been created here by Delhi police. Why? Because only 10 MPs were allowed.
05:43After that, the MPs were stopped there. I would ask Kunj to pan his camera and show you that around
05:51100 meters away from this place were the India Bloc leaders who were stopped. And now I can see some
05:58movement there also because these leaders wanted to go towards the president's house but they were
06:03stopped by Delhi police. And that is why this entire confrontation is now taking place. Remember that
06:09this entire area is highly secured area. It's highly sensitive area and multiple layers of barricades
06:15were put. Right in front of me is the parliament building. From that parliament when MPs marched,
06:22they were first stopped right front of Vijay Chowk car parking. Then only 10 India Bloc leaders were
06:30allowed whose names were given to president. When they entered inside, other MPs also wanted to go
06:36towards the president's house. Even they want to meet president. But they have now been stopped and
06:40that's why this confrontation right now as you're speaking is underway. Sir, it's a delegation of 10
06:46that was permitted. Others wanted to go and were not permitted. Stay with me Piyush. I want to bring in
06:51Mr. AK Jain into this conversation. Mr. Jain, as a former director general of police, would you agree with
06:58the assessment that the Delhi police appears to be overreacting? Why would 57 metro stations
07:05need to be shut down? Why would trains need to be stopped? The Congress party says this is undeclared
07:12emergency. This is autocracy, sir. You agree?
07:17No, I don't agree at all. Last time there was a lot of criticism of Delhi police that proper
07:24arrangements were not made when there was Dharna at Jantar Mantar. This time they are taking all
07:30possible precautions. They are trying to control the mob. They are trying to control the numbers.
07:37And Delhi police is absolutely justified in doing it. Because if you collect a crowd of 50,000 and then
07:44you try to control them, naturally you can't control a crowd. It's a basic policy, which we learned in
07:51the police, the crowd control. So you have to control them because so many people from so many
07:56walks of life, from so many areas, they are coming with different agendas over there. So that is not
08:01there. Then you can't control them. Then either you have to use force or you have to allow the agitators
08:07to allow the agitators to do whatever they feel like. So you can't allow anarchy in the national
08:15capital. So I think the proper arrangements are being made so that there will be no need for use
08:23of force on part of Delhi police. Proper arrangements are there. Arrest, preventive arrest shall be made.
08:29Tomorrow also preventive arrest shall be made. And the Dharna, whatever Dharna or whatever is going on,
08:36because it is going on for the last so many days. At Mumbai, there was Dharna. And now at Jantar
08:45Mundur, there is Dharna. So message has to go that everybody cannot be allowed to take law in their own
08:51hands. And police will do their duty.
08:58Sir, but Dharna is not illegal. We are a democracy. People want to protest at a designated spot.
09:04Protest is their right. But let me take this question that you've also raised. Adil Singh Goparai,
09:10in the garb of protest, anarchy is sought to be spread. You know, Dr. Guru Prakash Paswan spoke
09:21of Dr. Bhim Rao Ambedkar and the grammar of anarchy. Now that you have a constitution,
09:26you move by the constitution, you protest in a designated spot, in a peaceful manner,
09:31not the kind of anarchy that was seen on the streets of Delhi, sir. How would you respond to Dr.
09:37Paswan? Adil Singh Goparai? You'll have to give me about 90 seconds,
09:41because I have to respond to Guru and Mr. Jain. Point number one, let me clarify what the agenda,
09:46let me just indicate to him what is the agenda of the opposition. Our agenda is a quest for justice
09:56and transparency. And this bugle was sounded from within the ECI. If you want to complain,
10:03please go and complain to Mr. Sukbeer Sandhu and Mr. Joshi, because they were the ones who said
10:09that Gyanesh Gupta has been taking decisions unilaterally in an illegal manner. Point number
10:14one. Point number two, we are yet not a police state. Even though there are trappings of autocracy,
10:21we are yet not formally a police state, even though de facto police state. In a country which is run
10:27by the
10:27rule of law, police or state action is always proportionate. It is not disproportionate. This
10:34is what also fell from the Honorable Chief Justice of India today. Point number two. Point number three,
10:40these are citizens of this country. A government should not be scared of its citizens. A government
10:47must engage its citizens. This is a democracy which is a government of the people, by the people,
10:53and for the people. Mr. Modi should not treat opposition MPs as enemies of this state. This is
11:00not how democracies function. Number four, whether somebody likes it or not, let me make this point.
11:05Dr. Paswan, quickly response, sir. Let's make this point by point. Let's keep this conversational.
11:11Let me make 10 seconds. 10 seconds. Go on, sir.
11:23Okay. Sir, okay. Dr. Paswan, respond. Police action or police bandho bas should not be
11:33disproportionate. Point one, point two. You know, why treat the opposition as enemy of the state?
11:39They are raising certain points. Listen to them. Perhaps try and diffuse the situation, Dr. Paswan.
11:44Gaurav, I would expect the same 90 seconds that you gave my friend Adil. We have to understand that
11:49the BJP, previously the Bharti Jansang, we have spent decades in opposition. So, we have more
11:55experience of being in opposition than in government, point number one. Point number two, these protests
12:00are based on sheer lies. Prepostericity of the sheer protest is overwhelming. SIR is unconstitutional.
12:07The Supreme Court of India, the Constitutional Bank, Justice Suprekan, Justice Gwagchi,
12:12categorically said that the process of SIR is constitutional. So, lie number one, exposed.
12:18Lie number two, 13 crore voters have been deleted. The bifurcation has been clearly given Gaurav.
12:232.8 crore voters dead. 5.6 crore permanently shifted and so on and so forth. So, these protests
12:30are nothing but based on lies. We have to understand Gaurav very clearly that they want to...
12:56So, that was Casey Veno Gopal and I think this is now the delegation which is marching
13:03towards Vijay Chowk from parliament. These are members of parliament with that big banner. Gyanesh
13:09Kumar should resign. Dr. Paswan, complete your point, sir. Casey Veno Gopal was speaking and the studio
13:15went straight to the MPCR response, sir. Thank you so much, Gaurav. So, we have to understand,
13:20it's lies after lies. SIR is unconstitutional. SIR is unconstitutional. 13 crore voters deleted.
13:25But the bifurcation and that has been categorically said by Justice Surikant and Justice Bakhti on not
13:30on one occasion but on multiple occasions. Gaurav, we have to understand that after 2014,
13:35there have been 75 elections in the country. Of these 75 elections, 41 were won by Bharti
13:41Chanta Party and allies and the rest 34 were won by Congress and its allies. So, where does the
13:47question arises? We have to understand today, you have to declare Mr. Rahul Gandhi has to follow the
13:52law of the land. He is not above the law of the land. Madam Priyanka Gandhi has to follow the
13:56law
13:56of the land. Fair enough. SIR, for a moment, I quickly want to cut across to my colleague,
14:00Aishwarya Paliwal, as members of parliament now, take their march out of parliament to Vijay Chowk.
14:06Aishwarya, tell us what's happening where you are.
14:14Well, you know, Gaurav, I'm standing very close to Durashtupati Bhavan. Of course,
14:18on this side of the barricades, the top 10 leaders from the India block,
14:21starting with Rahul Gandhi and the list includes, uh, uh, includes former chief minister,
14:28Mamata Banerjee and the present chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir, Omar Abdullah. All of them
14:32are inside and they are now hoping that the president will now intervene. They have a list
14:37of revances that they wanted to present in front of her. That opportunity has indeed been given
14:41by the president of the country. Now, what is the next step? That is something that India block will
14:46now very keenly have to look at, but this is barely a few hours before the big CGP protest actually
14:51takes place in the national capital. The agencies are on their toes. Delhi police personnel have been
14:57given very clear instructions. They need to make sure that no one to what incident happens. In fact,
15:02the internet services from 10 PM tonight till 10 PM tomorrow, almost for 24 hours, we will see the
15:08internet, at least in Latians, Delhi, uh, you know, will be suspended. Those orders already have been given
15:14to the telecom companies. The opposition believes that this is the time for the CEC. That is the
15:20chief election commissioner, Gyanesh Kumar to resign. In fact, today, the meeting that the opposition had
15:25in the central hall in parliament, one of the other things that they spoke about and all of them
15:29unanimously said it is time for the government in our country to change. So that is another pressure
15:34that they will keep on building. But interestingly, Gaurav, you know, while we are seeing the
15:38opposition being united, Rahul Gandhi is not in the national capital tomorrow when the big CGP protest
15:44is taking place. But yes, this is the opposition now making sure that they keep the pressure on
15:49with regards to the CEC. Gaurav.
15:54Very interesting. But Mr. Jain, this may be political, uh, you know, for political dividends
16:00as far as the opposition India bloc is concerned. But when they say CEC Gyanesh Kumar should resign,
16:06Prime Minister Narendra Modi should resign, clearly it doesn't happen like that. The opposition also knows,
16:11perhaps using this to galvanize their cadre, to mobilize their cadre ahead of 27, 2027, uh, crucial
16:19elections in states like Uttar Pradesh and Punjab. How do you see this opposition campaign moving forward?
16:27They will not achieve anything. Mr. Dharmendra Pradhan's resignation and
16:32resignation of Mr. Gyanesh, they are two different things altogether. If they are under this impression
16:38that they will be able to obtain the resignation of CEC, they are sadly mistaken. This will continue
16:46for a few days and then it will fizzle out. Unless the Delhi police is on, on its toes all
16:52the time.
16:53They are in, in, instead of working out cases and working on crime, crime, they are busy with the
17:00law and order bandhavas. They are, uh, they are taking all possible precautions because instructions are
17:06there that you will not use force. If they will, if they don't, if they can't use force, then naturally,
17:12they have to make pakka bandhavas as per police drill, as per police manual. They have to make arrangements
17:18so that the crowd is, uh, within limits and they can, they can, they can control, control it. So, I
17:24don't
17:25think they are going to achieve anything. Uh, neither government is going to resign or, uh, a CEC is going
17:32to resign.
17:33Uh, after a few days, you will find that things will be normal. This is just a build-up for
17:382027 election.
17:41We, uh, Punjab, Punjab also, people are saying that, uh, uh, EVM should, should not be, EVM was introduced
17:49by Congress government. Uh, it's a fact that it was introduced by Congress government. I, in my initial days of,
17:57uh,
17:57service as young SP, I have seen, uh, how the ballot boxes used to be, uh, taken away by, by,
18:06by goons.
18:07And, uh, firing used to take place. But police used to cry on, on, uh, shout on, uh, wireless sets
18:15that,
18:15please send the force here. They have put, uh, five liters of water inside the voting machine. So,
18:22uh, uh, you can't have this kind of democracy. Okay. That people can go, uh, vehicles are moving.
18:28One, one vehicle after another. I, I, I will not like to name the political party because everybody
18:34knows it. Then, uh, they will come and they will capture the booth and they will go to another party.
18:39It's written in BCP, Booth Capturing Party.