Rahul Gandhi leads Congress protests, INDIA bloc coordination explained

Party leaders credit this “micro-management” with ensuring that the protests against the BJP-led government and Chief Election Commission (CEC) Gyanesh Kumar have not only drawn a full INDIA bloc turnout, but also civil society groups and student activists.

Rahul Gandhi after an opposition MPs’ meeting on the CEC matter at Moets restaurant. (Express Photo by Afshana Bhatt)

The protests were planned in the wake of The Indian Express report showing internal rift within the Election Commission of India over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR), which the Congress believes reinforces its claims of “vote chori”.

Speaking to The Indian Express Thursday evening, Congress MP and general secretary (organization) Venugopal, a key part of planning the protests, said: “Rahul Gandhi ji has been speaking on issues related to the SIR, irregularities in the ECI and Gyanesh Kumar being an agent of the BJP, but not all were convinced. After the recent revelations by the two ECs, it has become clear that he was right.”

The Indian Express spoke to several top Congress and INDIA bloc leaders to understand how one of the party’s most significant pushbacks against the Modi government has come about, and the roles assigned to different leaders.

Gathering the troops

A source in the Congress talks of regular meetings between Gandhi and his core team, listing “Vadra, Srivatsa (he uses only one name), Alankar Sawai, K B Byju and Venugopal ji”.

Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress MP Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Pawan Khera and other congress workers sit under a tree in the premises of Akashvani Bhavan after evading security personnel in New Delhi. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Sawai is a backroom strategist who is regularly seen flanking Gandhi at public events, Srivatsa heads Gandhi’s communication team, Byju handles some of the logistical aspects of Gandhi’s works and is a former Special Protection Group officer, while Venugopal is seen as Gandhi’s eyes and ears to the party.

“These are the people who sit and ideate with Gandhi on a regular basis, and recently, the meetings have picked up,” a source in the Congress said.

One of the conclusions from these discussions was to send a gentle but firm message to Congress MPs missing from protests on Day 1 and 2, when INDIA bloc MPs tried to march to the ECI headquarters and led a procession to Rashtrapati Bhavan, respectively, that their absence was being noted. “Gandhi asked Venugopal to list the MPs who attended the protests, and those not seen,” said a source.

Once it was clear that Gandhi was keeping a tab, even those parliamentarians not usually seen on the streets ensured they were present. Earlier, there have been complaints about some senior MPs being only active on social media, a source pointed out.

Rahul Gandhi being detained by police personnel after over eight-hour sit-in protest inside Akashvani Bhawan premises. (Express Photo by Gajendra Yadav)

Before the march to the Supreme Court Monday, the Gandhi siblings sent a message that no “excuse” for absence would be accepted. “Party leaders were told that they shouldn’t say they were detained by police, and must ensure they reach on time,” a source said. “This is why we saw everyone in attendance on Monday.”

To ensure that workers were not stopped on the borders, the Congress made arrangements for them to spend Sunday night in the city. “The Akbar Road office was opened up,” said a Congress MP from Haryana. The state, in fact, saw the maximum participation, with the father-son duo of Bhupinder and Deepender Hooda opening their doors too to accommodate Congress workers. Uttar Pradesh MPs followed suit.

Earlier, on Thursday and Friday last week, Venugopal and Vadra, along with Jairam Ramesh, worked the phones calling up senior Congress leaders across states. “We were told to get to Delhi as soon as possible, anyhow, leaving whatever we were doing, irrespective of what was happening in our states,” two senior Congress leaders, from UP and Haryana, separately told The Indian Express.

Rahul Gandhi, Amrinder Singh Raja Warring, INDIA bloc MPs MPs and supporters detained by the Delhi police personnel during the protest. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)

No ally left out

Gandhi personally reached out to allies to ensure their participation in the protests, including Mamata Banerjee, Akhilesh Yadav, the CPI(M)’s M A Baby and others. This was important as mixed messages from Gandhi have been blamed in the past for disagreements with allies.

The Samajwadi Party, in particular, was said to be upset about the Gandhi siblings “stealing the show” during the march to the ECI office, and not keeping anyone in the loop on the Akashwani Bhavan sit-in.

A source said: “After the SP did not send anyone on the day of the march to Jantar Mantar, Rahul ji started calling up top leaders across parties to urge them to join.”

And while Gandhi called up the top leaders, “Venugopal was asked to speak to the second-layer leadership of allies”, a source said.

Several leaders in the TMC, SP and Left said that the protests have seen “a different” Congress. “Generally, the Congress has a big brother approach. But that has not been the case this time. They have made sure to include smaller parties, even those with just a few MPs, and given them almost equal importance,” said a Left MP.

Rahul Gandhi standing on the barricades and holding a flag after being stopped by Police personnel near Akashvani Bhawan during the INDIA bloc MPs’ march. (Express Photo by Anil Sharma)

Another MP from the Left agreed, appreciating that the Congress put them ahead even of its chief ministers. A proof was Gandhi ensuring that the open truck in which he led the march to the Supreme Court on Tuesday included allies and student leaders, even if that meant asking party leaders to get off.

A Congress MP from Karnataka, whose CM D K Shivakumar was ribbed for being “snubbed” by Gandhi in the chaos of the march, said: “This was a message to the Congress leadership too – that this was a show of strength of all parties.”

An SP MP deputed by the party to attend meetings with the Congress told The Indian Express that the coordination was on point. “When the Congress makes such efforts, we feel included. Hence, the INDIA bloc high tea on Tuesday (held at Gandhi’s residence) saw 12 SP MPs in attendance.”

A TMC MP said they welcome the fact that “the Congress was not trying to be one up on others”. “We have also tried not to be one up on them in return,” chuckled the MP.

Venugopal told The Indian Express: “After the recent revelations regarding the ECI, we held a CWC and an INDIA bloc meeting. There was unanimity at both meetings to raise vote chori prominently. Despite there being regional differences, like the CPI(M) and Congress being against each other in Kerala, and the CPI(M) and Mamata TMC in Bengal, all parties are united on the issue now… It has been a focus of Mr Gandhi to bridge any gaps between allies… The coordination has been very smooth.”

Widening the umbrella

The decision to give an open invitation on Sunday evening for Monday’s march to the Supreme Court was suggested to Gandhi by one of his core team members, said sources. Subsequently, calls went out from one of the three people instrumental in planning the protests to activists such as Yogendra Yadav and student leaders like Neha Bora of the CPI (M-L)’s AISA.

When the replies indicated that these leaders and civil society members wanted a seat on the bus in which Gandhis and Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge would travel some of the way to the Supreme Court, it was immediately accepted.

Rahul Gandhi standing on the barricades and holding a flag after being stopped by Police personnel near Akashvani Bhawan during the INDIA bloc MPs’ march. (Express Photo by Afshana Ali)

“The idea was to make the protest bigger and bring all anti-Gyanesh Kumar voices together under the leadership of Gandhi,” said a source.

A delighted Congress

Sources say even those in the Congress who had their doubts about Gandhi’s stress on “vote chori” as a campaign issue, and were not shy of expressing them, are now closely tracking what he will do next.

“Department heads are becoming paranoid about being where Rahul Gandhi is. Like late Wednesday evening, when Gandhi reached India Gate to meet Ankita Bhandari’s family, AICC department heads started frantically calling his team to ask about his programme,” said a source.

“We have been talking about vote chori for more than a year now, but it is now that Congress leaders and MPs are convinced of it,” another source said.

A multi-fold jump in social media following of both the Congress and Gandhi in the last two weeks is being seen as another validation.