New Delhi: A day after Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi came out in support of protesting students in Jharkhand, Overseas Congress Chairman Sam Pitroda doubled down, saying the answer to the frustration of young people cannot be “lathis, tear gas and water cannons”.
“The images from Ranchi disturb me deeply. Whatever the disagreements, the answer to the frustration of our young people cannot be lathis, tear gas and water cannons. Students are not the enemy. They are India’s future. I stand in solidarity with the youth of Jharkhand,” Pitroda wrote on X.
Pitroda’s remarks came a day after Rahul Gandhi tweeted, “Students have a right to peaceful protest, and only dialogue can yield solutions,” asking the Jharkhand government to listen to the students and resolve their issues immediately.
Rahul Gandhi later reiterated his position at a Congress press conference Monday evening, saying, “We condemn any violence against peacefully protesting students. It does not matter where it is happening; we are against it and we do not support it.”
Rahul’s comments on Jharkhand comes as Congress has made student protests and the concerns of young people a large part of its political messaging inside and outside Parliament. The party has repeatedly stalled Parliament over violence against students and launched its ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign, with Gandhi himself increasingly speaking about jobs, examinations, students and the right to protest.
The Jharkhand protests therefore fit into the larger line the Congress has been taking nationally. But there is a complication in this case: In Jharkhand, the Congress is not in the Opposition. It is part of the Hemant Soren-led government, with four ministers in the state cabinet.
Radha Krishna Kishore holds the Finance, Planning and Development, Commercial Taxes, Food Distribution and Consumer Affairs portfolios. Irfan Ansari is the Minister for Medical Education, Health and Family Welfare, while Deepika Pandey Singh and Shilpi Neha Tirkey are the other two Congress ministers.
The party is now trying to support protesting students while continuing to work with the government whose handling of the protests has come under criticism.
Congress and JMM, however, insist there is no contradiction.
“There is no incongruity in this situation. We are doing our best to get our demands sorted. A committee has also been formed and a minister is also there,” K. Raju, Congress in-charge for Jharkhand told ThePrint.
“As an alliance partner, we have been doing it. We are standing with the students, we are closely monitoring the situation and trying to deal with these pending issues. We met the CM as well and he is also against violence. We are all on the same page, we all want the betterment of the students,” he told ThePrint.
Raju said the party’s support for students was not a challenge to the alliance government, but part of the political position Congress wanted to establish.
“We are in no way in contradiction. We are setting a standard. There is no reason for anyone to be upset. We are echoing our ideological commitment,” he said.
Congress has also sought to point to what its leaders are doing on the ground, rather than simply criticising the government from outside.
Ranchi district Congress president Kumar Raja said party leaders had continued to engage with the protesters even while they were demonstrating against the government.
“This is the beauty of democracy. The people who are protesting against us, we are getting them food supplies, we meet the protesters, we speak to them,” Raja said.
The party’s alliance partner, the Jharkhand Mukti Morcha, has also sought to play down any differences. JMM Rajya Sabha MP Mahua Maji rejected suggestions of a rift between the two parties. Maji maintained that the alliance remained united and that Chief Minister Hemant Soren was on the same page as the Congress.
“Everything is okay in the alliance, no one is upset with anyone. Rahul-ji also said that violence shouldn’t happen and we believe the same thing. We allowed the protesters to protest for a long time, far more than at Jantar Mantar. Our government has heard their demands and 98 percent have been met,” she told ThePrint.
Maji also pointed out: “The delegation which was sent was Congress, JMM and RJD. Alliance is all right. They are both on the same page.”
She alleged that political parties were trying to provoke students and claimed that some of those involved in the protests were not students. “There are several unruly elements who are not students who are trying to take over the students,” she said in a conversation with ThePrint.
But while Congress and JMM insist there is no contradiction in their positions, political analyst and Congress expert Rasheed Kidwai sees the episode as a familiar political balancing act.
“Political parties, all political parties, are a bundle of contradictions. They have different yardsticks when they are in power and when they are out of power,” Kidwai said. “Congress is giving back to the BJP in the same coin. Congress is doing the minimum that is required, saying ‘I condemn it’, sending a delegation and making noises.”
“But logically, if Congress was really hurt and angry, they would have withdrawn support. They also know that Rahul Gandhi will not cross this Lakshman Rekha of withdrawing support,” he added.
“The BJP is out shopping. They have shopped in Sharad Pawar’s party, they have shopped in Chandrababu’s party and they will shop in JMM also. So why should Rahul Gandhi give them an opportunity for Hemant Soren to go and join hands with the NDA? Politics does not exist in a vacuum. Rahul Gandhi will not burn bridges with JMM and hand it over to the BJP,” Kidwai told ThePrint.
For Congress, then, the Jharkhand protests present a difficult political calculation. The party can stand with the students, condemn the use of force and have Rahul Gandhi speak for them, while its ministers continue to sit inside the government and negotiate with the same administration. For now, both Congress and JMM insist that the two positions can coexist.
(Edited by Viny Mishra)