00:00I want to bring in right now my colleague Amit Bhardwaj, who's joining us live with more.
00:04Amit, there seems to be a rethink of sorts from the Congress.
00:07Earlier on, the Congress had kept a safe distance from this protest,
00:11despite the likes of TMC Amadmi Party, the left parties joining in, courting detention.
00:16Now you have two top leaders of the Congress coming out without naming the CJP,
00:21pledging support to the youth of this country and urging them to continue protesting.
00:26What has led to this change?
00:28What led to it?
00:35Preeti, this is certainly the Congress Party and its top leaders
00:39softening their stance towards Cockroach Janta Party.
00:42And this could be the result of the sustained campaign of the Cockroach Janta Party
00:46since July to October.
00:48In July, it was all about the paper leaks.
00:50In October, it is about Gyanesh Kumar, the very campaign
00:54which Rahul Gandhi is passionately leading for months now.
00:58You know, against Gyanesh Kumar because he has been alleging vote-chory.
01:04He's saying the electoral frauds are happening.
01:07He's making allegations on the issue of electoral rolls.
01:10And similar allegations were also made by CJP.
01:14Abhijit Deepke, Saurabh Das, Ashutosh Ranka, getting detained this morning.
01:19Possibly, despite those visuals coming, the National Capitol seeing where I'm standing,
01:26you know, the protesters are here.
01:28It's already 5 p.m.
01:31I have seen since morning, every half an hour, you would see the protesters coming here,
01:36possibly in 100, 50, 200, 300 numbers.
01:41The Delhi police lets them slog near for a while and after that they are detained.
01:47So, if this is happening, despite all the restrictions, trains, metro, internet,
01:53all the restrictions that have been imposed,
01:55possibly this was also a message to the Congress Party
01:59that it is now an issue within the young people,
02:03at least as far as their target group is concerned.
02:06And it is a common target group, whether it be the CJP or the Congress Party.
02:10And possibly that has led to Congress Party softening their stance towards Cockroach Janata Party
02:16and the, you know, top leaders, Priyanka Gandhi-Wadra, Rahul Gandhi.
02:20Both of them now extending their support without naming CJP.
02:24So, even now, there's a shyness in naming CJP.
02:28But let's also get you the visuals that's unfolding in the heart of the National Capitol in Connaught Place
02:35because despite all the restrictions, Preeti, since morning, I have seen right from Akshar Dham to Mandi House
02:42to, you know, the roads leading to Janatar Mantar.
02:48This is the outer circle of the Connaught Place where I see the Delhi police deployed.
02:53And again, a few minutes back, we had a lot of protesters,
02:57a lot of, when I say that, 100, 150, 200, you know, reaching out here
03:03and slognering.
03:05Then Delhi police chips in, detains them.
03:08I have been using that phrase, Preeti, temple run a game that we used to play on Android phones.
03:16That sequence is on a repeat in the National Capitol today.
03:21Despite the clampdowns, despite all these barricades,
03:23what I have seen since morning is that young people are still reaching here
03:28and they are raising their slogans, obviously, against Mr. Gyanesh Kumar, the CEC,
03:33and over the issue of what they believe is, you know, irregularities in the electoral system.
03:39The testing is that in pockets, even in Central Delhi,
03:43while there is a complete fortification of the National Capitol,
03:47you know, a lockdown-like situation in Central Delhi,
03:50despite that, there are protesters who have made their way to Central Delhi.
03:55Right now, things seem peaceful, Amit.
03:57Is the police once again looking to detain them?
04:04Well, things are peaceful right now, but I cannot assure, I mean,
04:07what one difference that I see from July and October is that earlier,
04:11because the number of the protesters on July 20th was quite high
04:15and the Delhi police was not prepared.
04:17They were overwhelmed with the kind of protesters who were there.
04:20Possibly they were not aware as to how to handle the protesters
04:23and that's when they got, they were facing the allegations of using extreme force
04:27against the young protesters, the Gen Z protesters.
04:30But today, that, you know, formula needs, has completely changed.
04:35What we see is that women personnel are in big numbers.
04:38Delhi police, para forces, RAF, their pink forces on the ground.
04:42For every protester, at least five to seven personnel is being used
04:46to pick them up and put them inside the buses.
04:49So, because it is also because they are able to do it because, you know,
04:54barricades is something that we are seeing today all across Delhi.
04:58It would not be, you know, using extra words.
05:03If I say garrison town, that seems to be the case with the national capitals,
05:08Lutian zone at least.
05:09And everywhere, despite all these barricading,
05:11the protesters have managed to come here in whatever numbers.
05:15And then it's easy for Delhi police to use seven to eight personnel
05:19to pick single protester.
05:21But I would not say that, you know, right now, no detention are happening.
05:27But maybe 30 minutes later, if the police believe that the number of the protesters
05:31at this particular sector is increasing, the detention will increase.
05:34I'll also give you an understanding to our viewers as well, Preeti,
05:37as to how the entire Connaught place has been divided.
05:41So, this particular juncture that you see, this is N block.
05:45N block is one sector.
05:47So, Delhi police has divided Connaught place into multiple sectors.
05:52The sector which is right in front of Regal Cinema,
05:55the iconic Regal Cinema of the national capital,
05:58where you see the buses, that is the road which leads you to Jantar Mantar directly.
06:03And that is why the majority of the force of the para forces,
06:08the RAF and the Delhi police is, you know, focused there.
06:11So, that is a different sector, a sensitive sector as far as Delhi police is concerned.
06:16And the difference from that to this particular sector,
06:19you would clearly see the personnel who are deployed here are lesser in numbers.
06:24But this road also leads you to Jantar Mantar.
06:27I can see multiple layers of barricades.
06:28So, protesters coming in clusters, Amit, and being picked up periodically.
06:34And they are continuing to filter in even to Central Delhi.
06:38That's what my colleague, Amit, tried to show our viewers.
06:42We're going to constantly keep going back to him.
