How Congress used Kharge's birthday as cover for flash protest near PM's house
Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka and other Congress leaders gathered at Mallikarjun Kharge's home for his birthday before heading to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence. The unannounced move caught both the media and security personnel off guard.
When senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, landed at Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence on Tuesday afternoon, it was believed to be to celebrate the party president's birthday. The veteran Dalit leader turned 84 on Tuesday (July 21). However, the Congress sprang a surprise after the leaders headed straight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is just 2.3 km away. Not only was the media caught off guard, but even the security personnel had no inkling of Congress's secret operation.
After reaching the Prime Minister's address, the Congress leaders staged a sit-in and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the brutal crackdown on the Parliament march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Taken aback by the Congress's flash protest, the government deputed Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for the PMO, to tackle the situation. However, Rahul refused to budge and dug in his heels.
INSIDE CONGRESS'S COVERT OPERATION
It was surprising for the Congress to organise such a flash protest. The party is usually calibrated and calculated when it comes to organising protests. An invite usually goes out to the media. The party's previous agitations have mostly been limited to Parliament till now.
This time there was little indication of what was to come.
After Parliament proceedings got washed out for a second straight day, the Congress initially planned to march to Vijay Chowk in the afternoon, our reporter Mausami Singh learnt from party sources. However, that plan got leaked. If they went ahead, the police would have stopped the leaders from protesting.
Police deployment had already been increased after Monday's CJP 'Sansad Chalo' march turned violent. Protesters engaged in a pitched battle with the security personnel just metres away from Parliament, where the Monsoon session was underway. On Tuesday, central Delhi was turned into a fortress.
The Congress leadership quickly altered its plan. Only a handful of senior leaders were aware of the move.
Around 3 pm, MPs and senior leaders quietly gathered at the Congress president's residence under the pretext of attending his birthday lunch. It did not raise any suspicion among the security personnel.
As soon as Rahul, Priyanka and other leaders assembled, they left Kharge's residence together and headed towards PM Modi's residence. The Congress's apparent objective was to reach the gates of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and symbolically register its protest.
The sudden move caught the police off guard, forcing security personnel to scramble as the Congress leaders marched towards the high-security zone. They were eventually stopped metres away from PM Modi's residence.
WHY CONGRESS CHOSE PM MODI'S RESIDENCE?
It was not a traditional Congress-style protest. There was drama, shock and awe.
Our reporter, Rahul Gautam, learnt that the party wanted to send a message through it as the government was not willing to discuss issues like the NEET-UG paper leak in Parliament.
Moreover, the Congress has largely stayed away from the Cockroach Janta Party protest, even though it expressed solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk has been on hunger strike for the past 23 days, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a spate of exam paper leaks.
While Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera visited Wangchuk at the Jantar Mantar protest site last week, Rahul has been conspicuous by his absence.
The Congress, which has been cagey on engaging with the CJP, also did not take part in the July 20 march to Parliament. It was creating bad optics for the party, whose 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' initiative failed to generate much steam, largely due to Rahul's absence.
The Congress didn't want to be seen as insensitive to the students and the youth. It needed to do something to corner the government to accede to its demand on a Parliament discussion on paper leaks.
On Tuesday, it pulled off a rare operation that had all the elements of a political potboiler - surprise, coordination and deception.
When senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, landed at Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence on Tuesday afternoon, it was believed to be to celebrate the party president's birthday. The veteran Dalit leader turned 84 on Tuesday (July 21). However, the Congress sprang a surprise after the leaders headed straight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is just 2.3 km away. Not only was the media caught off guard, but even the security personnel had no inkling of Congress's secret operation.
After reaching the Prime Minister's address, the Congress leaders staged a sit-in and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the brutal crackdown on the Parliament march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Taken aback by the Congress's flash protest, the government deputed Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for the PMO, to tackle the situation. However, Rahul refused to budge and dug in his heels.
INSIDE CONGRESS'S COVERT OPERATION
It was surprising for the Congress to organise such a flash protest. The party is usually calibrated and calculated when it comes to organising protests. An invite usually goes out to the media. The party's previous agitations have mostly been limited to Parliament till now.
This time there was little indication of what was to come.
After Parliament proceedings got washed out for a second straight day, the Congress initially planned to march to Vijay Chowk in the afternoon, our reporter Mausami Singh learnt from party sources. However, that plan got leaked. If they went ahead, the police would have stopped the leaders from protesting.
Police deployment had already been increased after Monday's CJP 'Sansad Chalo' march turned violent. Protesters engaged in a pitched battle with the security personnel just metres away from Parliament, where the Monsoon session was underway. On Tuesday, central Delhi was turned into a fortress.
The Congress leadership quickly altered its plan. Only a handful of senior leaders were aware of the move.
Around 3 pm, MPs and senior leaders quietly gathered at the Congress president's residence under the pretext of attending his birthday lunch. It did not raise any suspicion among the security personnel.
As soon as Rahul, Priyanka and other leaders assembled, they left Kharge's residence together and headed towards PM Modi's residence. The Congress's apparent objective was to reach the gates of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and symbolically register its protest.
The sudden move caught the police off guard, forcing security personnel to scramble as the Congress leaders marched towards the high-security zone. They were eventually stopped metres away from PM Modi's residence.
WHY CONGRESS CHOSE PM MODI'S RESIDENCE?
It was not a traditional Congress-style protest. There was drama, shock and awe.
Our reporter, Rahul Gautam, learnt that the party wanted to send a message through it as the government was not willing to discuss issues like the NEET-UG paper leak in Parliament.
Moreover, the Congress has largely stayed away from the Cockroach Janta Party protest, even though it expressed solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk has been on hunger strike for the past 23 days, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a spate of exam paper leaks.
While Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera visited Wangchuk at the Jantar Mantar protest site last week, Rahul has been conspicuous by his absence.
The Congress, which has been cagey on engaging with the CJP, also did not take part in the July 20 march to Parliament. It was creating bad optics for the party, whose 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' initiative failed to generate much steam, largely due to Rahul's absence.
The Congress didn't want to be seen as insensitive to the students and the youth. It needed to do something to corner the government to accede to its demand on a Parliament discussion on paper leaks.
On Tuesday, it pulled off a rare operation that had all the elements of a political potboiler - surprise, coordination and deception.
When senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, landed at Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence on Tuesday afternoon, it was believed to be to celebrate the party president's birthday. The veteran Dalit leader turned 84 on Tuesday (July 21). However, the Congress sprang a surprise after the leaders headed straight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is just 2.3 km away. Not only was the media caught off guard, but even the security personnel had no inkling of Congress's secret operation.
After reaching the Prime Minister's address, the Congress leaders staged a sit-in and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the brutal crackdown on the Parliament march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Taken aback by the Congress's flash protest, the government deputed Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for the PMO, to tackle the situation. However, Rahul refused to budge and dug in his heels.
INSIDE CONGRESS'S COVERT OPERATION
It was surprising for the Congress to organise such a flash protest. The party is usually calibrated and calculated when it comes to organising protests. An invite usually goes out to the media. The party's previous agitations have mostly been limited to Parliament till now.
This time there was little indication of what was to come.
After Parliament proceedings got washed out for a second straight day, the Congress initially planned to march to Vijay Chowk in the afternoon, our reporter Mausami Singh learnt from party sources. However, that plan got leaked. If they went ahead, the police would have stopped the leaders from protesting.
Police deployment had already been increased after Monday's CJP 'Sansad Chalo' march turned violent. Protesters engaged in a pitched battle with the security personnel just metres away from Parliament, where the Monsoon session was underway. On Tuesday, central Delhi was turned into a fortress.
The Congress leadership quickly altered its plan. Only a handful of senior leaders were aware of the move.
Around 3 pm, MPs and senior leaders quietly gathered at the Congress president's residence under the pretext of attending his birthday lunch. It did not raise any suspicion among the security personnel.
As soon as Rahul, Priyanka and other leaders assembled, they left Kharge's residence together and headed towards PM Modi's residence. The Congress's apparent objective was to reach the gates of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and symbolically register its protest.
The sudden move caught the police off guard, forcing security personnel to scramble as the Congress leaders marched towards the high-security zone. They were eventually stopped metres away from PM Modi's residence.
WHY CONGRESS CHOSE PM MODI'S RESIDENCE?
It was not a traditional Congress-style protest. There was drama, shock and awe.
Our reporter, Rahul Gautam, learnt that the party wanted to send a message through it as the government was not willing to discuss issues like the NEET-UG paper leak in Parliament.
Moreover, the Congress has largely stayed away from the Cockroach Janta Party protest, even though it expressed solidarity with activist Sonam Wangchuk. Wangchuk has been on hunger strike for the past 23 days, demanding the resignation of Union Education Minister Dharmendra Pradhan over a spate of exam paper leaks.
While Congress Rajya Sabha MP Pawan Khera visited Wangchuk at the Jantar Mantar protest site last week, Rahul has been conspicuous by his absence.
The Congress, which has been cagey on engaging with the CJP, also did not take part in the July 20 march to Parliament. It was creating bad optics for the party, whose 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' initiative failed to generate much steam, largely due to Rahul's absence.
The Congress didn't want to be seen as insensitive to the students and the youth. It needed to do something to corner the government to accede to its demand on a Parliament discussion on paper leaks.
On Tuesday, it pulled off a rare operation that had all the elements of a political potboiler - surprise, coordination and deception.
