Rahul Gandhi puts up defiant face amid mic glitches: ‘Silence me, but I’ll keep speaking for Dalits'

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi encountered a microphone glitch while addressing an event in New Delhi on Tuesday. The programme, centred on the Indian Constitution, took an unexpected turn as the Congress leader's speech was disrupted mid-way.

Gandhi began his address holding up a copy of the Constitution, launching into a critique of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. However, midway through his speech, his microphone abruptly stopped working, plunging the stage into chaos for about 10 minutes. As the organisers scrambled to resolve the issue, Gandhi remained composed, smiling at the podium.

Once the technical snag was fixed, Gandhi resumed his speech with a defiant tone. "In this country, for the last 3,000 years, whoever speaks for Dalits, tribals, backward classes, and the poor faces attempts to silence their voice. My microphone may be switched off, but I will not stop speaking," he declared to cheers from the audience. Referring to the late Rohith Vemula, Gandhi emphasised, "He wanted to speak, but his voice was also taken away."

This incident marked the second technical disruption involving Rahul Gandhi in a week. Five days earlier, during a press conference on allegations against industrialist Gautam Adani, a sudden power outage interrupted his remarks. Gandhi, seizing the moment with humour, remarked, "Adani power, Modi power—who knows which power this is? But they’re one and the same."

The BJP, however, was quick to respond with jabs. Party spokesperson Sambit Patra mocked the Congress leader, suggesting that the power outage at Gandhi's press conference might have been orchestrated internally, even naming Jairam Ramesh in jest. "It’s his office, his electricity—perhaps his own team turned it off," Patra quipped.

These disruptions come against the backdrop of the Parliament's winter session, where Congress has repeatedly accused the Modi government and the Lok Sabha Speaker of muting Gandhi’s microphone during his speeches. The incidents have become a flashpoint in the ongoing tussle between the BJP-led government and the Congress party, further heating up the political discourse ahead of the 2024 general elections.