Youth Congress marches against Manusmriti in Nagpur, seeks MPSC chief's resignation

Youth Congress workers in Nagpur took out a march against the Manusmriti, heading towards the RSS office in Reshimbagh. The protest was named the "Sanman Morcha" (March of Honour). During the march, workers burnt a copy of the Manusmriti to register their protest. A large police force was deployed in the area ahead of the protest.

Police stopped the sloganeering workers with barricades on the way to Reshimbagh, citing law and order concerns. The barricades had been set up in advance to prevent the march from proceeding further, and protesters were halted as soon as they approached. This led to tension in the area for some time. Police deployed a large force in an attempt to keep the situation under control. When they were stopped, some protesters climbed onto the barricades and began raising slogans, which made the workers more aggressive and heightened the tension further.

The protesters raised slogans including "Nahin chalegi, nahin chalegi, dadagiri nahin chalegi" (bullying will not be tolerated) and "Maafi maango, maafi maango, BJP wale maafi maango" (BJP, apologise). They also demanded that the BJP and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh apologise to Congress national president Mallikarjun Kharge. Office-bearers and workers from various parts of the state took part in the march, with a notable presence of young women. The Youth Congress said the march was held to protest against the Manusmriti and to convey to the public the message of respecting the Indian Constitution and its values. Many protesters held up copies of the Constitution and raised slogans in its support, saying the country's governance must be run according to the Constitution. The message put out through the march was that "this country will run on the Constitution, not the Manusmriti." Youth Congress workers said they had come out to defend the honour of the Constitution and demanded that the BJP apologise to their leader.

Separately, the Congress also targeted the state government over an issue related to the Maharashtra Public Service Commission (MPSC). Congress state president Harshvardhan Sapkal alleged that the government was directly responsible for the death of Pratamesh Deshmukh. Sapkal demanded that the chairman and secretary of the Maharashtra Public Service Commission take responsibility for the matter and resign immediately. This showed the Congress taking an aggressive stance against the government both over the Manusmriti protest in Nagpur and over issues related to the MPSC and competitive examinations.

The Youth Congress protest against the Manusmriti at Reshimbagh on one hand, and the demand for the resignation of MPSC officials on the other, heated up the political atmosphere in Nagpur. The march towards Reshimbagh, the police barricading, the sloganeering by workers who climbed onto the barricades, and the burning of a copy of the Manusmriti gave the protest an aggressive character. The heavy police deployment kept the area tense for some time.