Jaipur: Rival BJP and Congress marches over Rahul Gandhi’s detention in Delhi brought central Jaipur traffic to a near standstill on Wednesday. BJP state president Madan Rathore led a march towards the Congress office, accusing Gandhi and his party of attempting to create unrest outside Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence. Congress state president Govind Singh Dotasra led a counter-march towards the BJP headquarters, alleging the ruling party was using police action to suppress the Opposition.Hundreds of BJP workers set out from the party’s state headquarters towards the Rajasthan PCC office at 3:30 pm to protest the Congress demonstration outside the Prime Minister’s residence in Delhi. Their march was halted at Chaumu House Circle, where police had erected barricades. As workers tried to move ahead, they pushed against the barricades and scuffled with police, who responded with water cannons. Rathore was among those soaked during the brief confrontation.Speaking after the protest, Rathore accused the Congress of using outsiders to fuel unrest in Delhi. “Those at Jantar Mantar were hired goons and trained stone-pelters with foreign funding. Not one of those admitted to hospital after the protest turned out to be a student,” he alleged. He also criticised Rahul Gandhi for taking the protest to the Prime Minister’s residence, saying it had “brought disrepute to the country’s democratic traditions.”The Congress hit back with its own march from the PCC headquarters towards the BJP state office at 5:30 pm for the second day in a row. The party continued to demand the resignation of Union education minister Dharmendra Pradhan over the police action against Rahul Gandhi. Former chief minister Ashok Gehlot, Leader of Opposition Tikaram Jully and other senior leaders joined the march after burning an effigy of the Centre outside the PCC office. Police stopped the procession before it could reach the BJP headquarters.Dotasra alleged that the BJP was using the police to muzzle the Opposition. “The BJP is trying to suppress democratic voices through police action. We will continue our protest until accountability is fixed,” he said. Former minister Pratap Singh Khachariyawas described the BJP’s protest as “a staged drama,” adding, “The BJP is in power and yet it is pretending to protest. Even the water cannon action was part of the script.”The rival marches brought much of Jaipur’s political and administrative district to a crawl. Traffic around Government Hostel Circle, Chaumu House Circle, Civil Lines and nearby roads remained disrupted for several hours as police diverted vehicles to manage the protests. Long queues of commuters were seen on key stretches before traffic gradually eased later in the afternoon.In a student dialogue programme organised by NSUI, Congress MLA Sachin Pilot, while speaking about Rahul Gandhi’s protest outside the Prime Minister’s residence, said, “It was this very govt that renamed that road ‘Lok Kalyan Marg’ (Public Welfare Road); therefore, if a demand is being made for the public welfare, it should be accepted. Furthermore, I believe the govt should not merely seek the minister’s resignation but should dismiss him.” Pilot added that the FIRs filed against students who protested in Delhi must be withdrawn, and a proper discussion should be held in Parliament — “not just a token debate to go through the motions.”
