Sri Vijaya Puram, July 23: A political confrontation unfolded in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands on july 22 as the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) staged a protest outside the Congress office in Sri Vijaya Puram, triggering a counter-demonstration by the Congress at the Gandhi Statue and escalating tensions between the two parties.
The BJP organised the protest in response to the Congress Party’s demonstration held in New Delhi a day earlier. Led by Andaman and Nicobar Islands BJP president Anil Tiwari, party workers gathered outside the Congress office and held a dharna under police security.
Addressing BJP workers during the protest, Tiwari said the party respected the police and remained committed to serving the nation. He alleged that the Congress was attempting to undermine democracy and claimed the party was protesting because it was no longer getting an opportunity to “loot the country.” He further told party workers that while the day’s demonstration was concluding, they would assemble again whenever directed by the party leadership.
The protest drew a response from the Andaman and Nicobar Territorial Congress Committee (ANTCC), which later organised a counter-demonstration at the Gandhi Statue. Congress workers assembled peacefully and protested against the BJP’s decision to hold a demonstration outside the party office earlier in the day.
Speaking at the gathering, ANTCC president Rangalal Halder said the Congress protest held a day earlier was part of a nationwide programme carried out following instructions from the party leadership after Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi was allegedly removed by police during a protest in New Delhi. He said the local demonstration was conducted as part of that nationwide campaign.
Referring to the BJP’s protest outside the Congress office, Halder questioned the move and said the Congress had only exercised its democratic right to protest. “What is the fault of the Congress party? Can’t we demand? Can’t we protest for our children? Is democracy over?” he said while addressing party workers.
Halder also warned that if similar demonstrations continued outside the Congress office, the Congress would organise protests outside the BJP office in the coming days. He further alleged that protests outside the office of another political party had not occurred in the islands before and urged the police to carefully distinguish between peaceful protests and actions that could heighten political tensions.
Police personnel remained deployed at both protest sites to maintain law and order as workers from the two political parties held separate demonstrations. The protests concluded without any reported untoward incidents.
The back-to-back demonstrations reflected the political fallout of the developments in New Delhi, with both the BJP and Congress using public protests in Sri Vijaya Puram to reinforce their respective political positions while maintaining their opposing narratives on issues of democracy and public protest.
