Following an uproar, the Mandsaur administration in Madhya Pradesh on Wednesday whittled down its conditions for allowing Congress President Rahul Gandhi to hold a rally on June 6 from 19 to five, the Hindustan Times reported.
The rally coincides with the first anniversary of the police shooting dead five protesting farmers in the district.
The conditions are: there shall be no brandishing of firearms; slogans shouted at the rally must not hurt anyone’s religious feelings; there must not be any incident that gives rise to communal tension or a law and order situation; use of loudspeakers shall be as per the directives set by the Supreme Court; and a fresh application must be filed to seek additional permission for the use of the venue, the Hindustan Times reported.
Previously, the sub-divisional officer of Malhargarh had listed 19 conditions to the rally’s organisers, including constructing a tent of not more than 15 feet x 15 feet frame, restricting the use of DJ sound systems and loudspeakers within the range of 7.5 decibel to 10 decibel.
“It [the earlier order] was a technical mistake made by a clerical staff,” Mandsaur Collector Om Prakash Shrivastav told The Hindu. “Probably by mistake they issued the set of orders, which are usually meant for protest. We have issued a fresh order today for them [Congress] to hold a rally at Pipliya Mandi.” Shrivastava said the Congress will have to seek permission from the state’s higher education department to use the ground at Atal Bihari Vajpayee Government Degree College.
The Congress criticised the guidelines. “If the letter issuing directives to Rahul Gandhi’s Mandsaur rally is true, then it is clear that the writer [of the letter] has lost their discretion completely,” former Union minister P Chidambaram said on Twitter. “The one who wrote the letter and his patrons should immediately study the Article 19(1) of the Constitution.”
Madhya Pradesh Congress President Kamal Nath said the state government was trying to disrupt Gandhi’s public meeting with the farmers. “The Shivraj Singh-led government, which denied Rahul Gandhi the permission to enter Mandsaur after firing on farmers, is now planning to disrupt Gandhi’s public meeting and suppress farmers’ voice on the pretext of conditions,” he said on Twitter. “Would the same set of conditions apply for PM Modi and other BJP leaders’ public meetings?”
BJP spokesperson Rajnish Agrawal said that the police and district administration decide the arrangements for the rally. “Rahul Gandhi is not above the law and no one makes rules specially meant for him,” he told News18.
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