Rahul Gandhi's Indore event: 1.5L students registered, says Singh

Digvijaya Singh is confident about the success of Rahul Gandhi's 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' event in Indore, with 1.5 lakh student registrations. He said security is the administration's responsibility and criticized the BJP's 'narrow mindset'.

Over 1.5 Lakh Students Register for Rahul Gandhi's Indore Event

Veteran Congress leader Digvijaya Singh has expressed confidence that Leader of Opposition (LoP) Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme in Indore will be successful, adding that around 1.5 lakh students have registered for the event. The ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme featuring Rahul Gandhi is scheduled to be held at Regional Park in the district this evening. Singh also talked about the security arrangements for the programme, saying the responsibility for security arrangements rests with the administration.

“This is the fifth program of Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ and this time he has chosen Indore, which is a major centre of education. Around 1.5 lakh students have registered themselves here so far. Therefore, we are confident that it will be a successful program. The Congress workers, along with NSUI and Youth Congress, have worked extensively for it and we are fully confident that it will be very successful,” Digvijaya Singh told ANI.

Security Arrangements Administration's Responsibility: Singh

On the security protocol for the event, the Congress leader said, “As far as the administrative system is concerned, the Bharatiya Janata Party has always worked with a very narrow approach in this matter. As far as Rajiv Gandhi ji is concerned, it was a very serious and heartbreaking incident for us. God forbid such a situation should ever arise. But deciding a separate protocol for this is the responsibility of the administration. You decide what is required. The entire responsibility for security arrangements lies with the administration. The Congress party has nothing to say on this; whatever security protocol they decide, we will follow it.”

Notably, Indore Police sought details on 29 points from the Congress party as part of security and logistical arrangements for Rahul Gandhi’s ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme, citing security standards outlined in the Justice J S Verma Commission report. The Justice Verma Commission was constituted in 1991, following the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi to examine security lapses related to the incident. The commission’s findings and recommendations have since been referred to in the context of security arrangements for VIP programmes.

Singh Laments Lack of Political Cordiality

Additionally, senior Congress leader Singh also recalled that political parties had earlier extended cooperation to each other during major events in Madhya Pradesh. “There has always been an atmosphere of cordiality between different political parties here. We used to cooperate in their programmes and they used to cooperate in ours. But circumstances have changed now and ever since Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah took office, the Bharatiya Janata Party has been operating with a very narrow mindset,” he said. (ANI)

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by Asianet Newsable English staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)