A black Innova with four occupants snailed towards a video journalist, standing across the road in front of Congress working president Sonia Gandhi’s official residence in Lutyens’ Delhi, at 5.30 pm on Thursday. With all cameras turned towards Gandhi’s house, a man on the front seat necked out and entreated the journalist to share inputs on visitors. “He introduced himself as an MLA from Rajasthan and wanted to know what was going on,” the journalist told Newslaundry.
It was Prithviraj Meena, an MLA from Todabhim in Karauli district part of Sachin Pilot’s faction, amid Rajasthan’s ongoing political crisis – triggered by chief minister Ashok Gehlot reportedly agreeing to run for the post of Congress president and his camp opposing the possible elevation of Pilot as CM.
But it isn’t just Meena, or Rajasthan politics, behind the buzz on Akbar Road, one of the entry points to Gandhi’s 10 Janpath residence next to the Congress headquarters. Friday was also the last day for nominations for Congress presidential election.
And over the last three days, Newslaundry observed, many national and state leaders of the Congress made a beeline to meet Gandhi, affirming – if that needed any confirmation – why 10 Janpath remains the primary power centre in the party.
While some went inside just to drop festival presents, others visited Gandhi to apologise, discuss the list of candidates for the upcoming assembly polls, make their sentiments heard or counsel her on the Rajasthan turmoil and the party president election. Many emerged poker-faced, or with smiles, shaking their heads, their brief chat with journalists indicating how their views were received.
Outside, political informers on the sly relayed blow-by-blow accounts to their masters on the phone. Two grassroots workers in their 80s, seeking “madam’s” audience, were denied entry for want of online application or letter-petition. But let’s take a look at the visitors who made it inside on Thursday, a day before the last date of nominations.
10.20 am: Congress’s general secretary in-charge of organisation KC Venugopal arrived in his Etios, leaving an hour later.
12.50 pm: Rae Bareli Congress leader Yogendra Mishra met Gandhi’s personal assistant PP Madhavan. The district is Gandhi’s Lok Sabha constituency and family bastion.
1.05 pm: Gehlot, along with OSD Shashi Kant Sharma, cut through a crowd of journalists in his Tata Safari. Around 20 Congress workers shouted slogans – “Sonia Gandhi zindabad”; “Rahul Gandhi zindabad”, and after a pause “Ashok Gehlot, zindabad”. But these slogans were drowned out by overzealous piece-to-camera attempts by journalists. The Rajasthan CM was followed by Venugopal, five minutes later. Meanwhile, a political informer relayed all these developments and more on his phone in Marwari.
2.52 pm: Sure-footed, Gehlot and Venugopal emerged from the meeting and walked up to the entry gate. Cameras lunged for a byte – held back by the slider entry gate and fence. A makeshift podium was hustled but didn’t have space for all the mics.
“I had a conversation with Congress interim president Sonia Gandhi. Whatever happened two days ago shocked us. It gave a message that all of it happened as I wanted to be chief minister. I apologised to her,” Gehlot told the media. Around 80 MLAs had earlier skipped a Congress legislature party meeting that called for a resolution authorising Gandhi to decide the name of the next chief minister after Gehlot. Rajasthan observers Ajay Maken and Mallikarjun Kharge issued showcause notices to three Rajasthan MLAs part of the Gehlot camp.
4.30 pm: A black defender pulled up, with Rajendra Singh Bidhuri, an MLA from Chittorgarh’s Begun who was part of the group that skipped the CLP meeting. Fidgety for a moment, he chatted with a Rajasthani journalist before getting down, greeting guards, flashing a victory sign and hurrying inside the complex. Almost an hour later, he stormed out, fought off media questions, got into the SUV and disappeared into traffic. It was not clear if he was allowed to apprise Gandhi.
5.28 pm: Venugopal left after over five hours, pointing out that a decision on Rajasthan CM post will be taken in a day or two. He issued an advisory to Rajasthan Congress MLAs to refrain from making comments against other leaders.
5.30 pm: An Innova pulled up across the road, away from the media glare. Todabhim MLA Prithviraj Meena sought information about developments from a journalist unknown to him, and left in a jiffy. He had earlier courted controversy, saying Pilot should replace Gehlot. Meanwhile, minutes later, a personal assistant of Pramod Tiwari, nine-time Congress MLA from UP and former MP, leaves within four minutes of arrival after dropping presents.
7 pm: Sonia Gandhi’s Rae Bareli representative KL Sharma entered, and left after around 90 minutes.
7.53 pm: After waiting for two days at his Delhi residence on Firozeshah Road, Pilot rolled into the house in his Pajero, with Venugopal arriving a minute later.
9.10 pm: Venugopal made the third exit on the same day while Pilot was held back by a group of journalists, who almost broke through the gate to mob him. “I don't see any reason why Congress cannot return for a second consecutive term in Rajasthan in 2023. We will work towards this,” Pilot told the media, before dashing out in his Pajero. Meanwhile, Sonia Gandhi sneaked out of the residence in her car from the back gate, moving towards Priyanka’s house in Khan Market.
Over the previous two days, 10 Janpath saw the Congress election committee chaired by Sonia Gandhi brainstorm 40 names for the upcoming Himachal Pradesh polls. The meeting on Tuesday was attended by senior leaders such as Veerappa Moily, Venugopal, Mukul Wasnik, Anand Sharma, Ambika Soni, Girija Vyas, Rajiv Shukla, Deepa Das Munshi, Mohsina Kidwai and others. They left after two-and-a-half hours, saying there was consensus on 40 candidates of the total 68 seats.
Meanwhile, Madhusudan Mistry, chairman of the party’s central election authority, made three trips to Gandhi’s house to deliver voter ID cards to Congress leaders, including Priyanka Gandhi, for the party polls scheduled for October 17.
On Wednesday, former union minister AK Antony met Gandhi hours after he appeared before a CBI court in connection with a corruption case. The meeting lasted 75 minutes. Gandhi was said to have sought his views on the Rajasthan crisis – the Congress had hoped for a smooth transition of power from Gehlot to Pilot but hurdles emerged with the defiance of a majority of MLAs backing Gehlot.
Meanwhile, in the wake of the resignation of Himachal Congress chief Harsh Mahajan, Pratibha Singh and her son Vikramaditya visited the house a second time in two days. Leaving after 20 minutes, she told journalists that she had come for a discussion on assembly polls.
Earlier in the day, a Congress worker from Madhya Pradesh, along with his barefoot wife and son, made a failed attempt to meet Gandhi. Ram Singh Rawat, 84-year-old and dhoti-clad, told Newslaundry that he had come to Delhi as nobody was listening to their problem. He was summarily dismissed.
“Even big leaders can’t meet madam, who are you? First write your issue on a piece of paper or apply online. Or you can go to the Congress office and get a letter from there,” a security guard told the group, who subsequently left for their home.
Meanwhile, Mallikarjun Kharge, who is said to have been handpicked by the Gandhis, has thrown his hat in the ring against Shashi Tharoor. Even if Kharge wins, it seems the nucleus of Congress politics won’t shift to his residence at 10, Rajaji Marg, anytime soon.
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