MLA Holds 'Chappal' Protest In Rajasthan, Some Carry Away Footwear In Sacks

A "chappal (slipper) rally" was held in Rajasthan's Hanumangarh town on Wednesday to protest against the inefficiency of the electricity department. Organised by the local Independent MLA, it saw a thousand-strong crowd gathered at the town's Bharat Mata Chowk. Then they marched towards the electricity department offices - located a kilometre away, waving slippers of all shapes and sizes.

The organisers had distributed slippers to those who could not bring extra slippers to wave. Stacks of slippers in sacks were carried and distributed among the crowd. But not everyone collected a pair for the protest. Some by-standers gleefully took away the slippers for their personal use when they saw the distribution happening. Cellphone videos from the spot showed a man carry away five new pairs. Some were even seen carrying them away in sacks -- presumably to make a quick buck.

The protesters, meanwhile, threw the slippers at the gates of the electricity department after a police team barred the way inside. 

The MLA, Ganesh Raj Bansal, said, "This chappal rally is against the way the electricity department functions. They are not bothered about the trials of common people in this hot and humid weather. We need our complaints regarding electricity addressed on time".

But people's problems are not being addressed and "so we have taken up chappals in our hands as a symbol of protest," he said, ending with a dire threat: "Next time we will throw them at the head of the electricity department."

This was not the first time the local officials of the electricity department crossed swords with public representatives. 

On August 8, there was a major fault in the 11 KV line leading to half the town not getting electricity since 5 am. Later in the day,  the former zila parishad chairman Devendra Parikh had called up officials and allegedly abused them. His supporters organised protests in front of the electricity department. 

Speaking to NDTV, the department's assistant engineer Mukesh Sharma said, "We made all efforts to have electricity restored as soon as possible on August 8. But the way we are being treated and targeted is also not correct. I have been sent on leave after that incident and the political pressure is unfair".

Local BJP leader Amit Sahi, who fought the Hanumangarh election on a BJP ticket but lost, criticised the protest. "This is not in good taste," he said. "If there is a problem it should be resolved through dialogue and in a peaceful way. Waving chappals, raising chappals, threatening to hit with chappals, is unacceptable," he added.