Rahul Gandhi Slams Arrest of CJP leaders Waving Tricolour at Jantar Mantar as “Act of Cowardice”

Waving the Tricolour at Jantar Mantar in a peaceful protest is not a crime. Jailing youth for it is an act of cowardice.

Students. Youth. Journalists. The INDIA bloc. Different banners, one cause. All protests are one: citizens demanding their constitutional rights.

Jantar Mantar belongs to the people of India. We will reclaim it.

— Rahul Gandhi (@RahulGandhi) October 14, 2026

The post marks a major shift in the Congress’s stance on the CJP, sparked by a social media trend in May. Voices in the main Opposition party were initially skeptical of the CJP, which led the 17-day demonstration against paper leaks at Jantar Mantar in July.

As the CJP emerged as a talking point, top Congress leaders maintained a strategic silence on the front, stressing that it had been raising the issues of paper leaks and alleged voter list irregularities through its ‘Chhatron ki goonj’ and ‘vote chori’ campaigns long before CJP.

In fact, on October 10, when the CJP called for a protest march demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over issues linked to the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter rolls, the Congress stayed away. This was conspicuous because in the days leading up to the CJP protest, the main opposition and its allies made headlines for back-to-back street protests.