At CWC meet, Rahul says Modi told him: ‘When we go, you will come’

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in a closed-door meeting with Rahul Gandhi in his capacity as Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, told him that the Congress would return to power once the Bharatiya Janata Party was out of power, Mr. Gandhi told his colleagues at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting on Tuesday.

Mr. Gandhi, who spoke for 20 to 25 minutes at the CWC meeting, focused on the principle of resistance within the party and asked his colleagues to remain confident, sources said.

Recalling a Selection Committee meeting with the Prime Minister and Home Minister for a constitutional post, Mr. Gandhi said that when he questioned Mr. Modi about pushing through a candidate he had opposed as the Leader of the Opposition, the Prime Minister said he was acting in the manner adopted by previous Prime Ministers, including Indira Gandhi, sources told The Hindu. Mr. Gandhi then reminded him that she had lost the subsequent election, the sources said.

“You don’t believe me, but the Prime Minister and Home Minister, in the [closed-door] meeting, told me, ‘When we go, you will come’… So you should trust me,” Mr. Gandhi told CWC colleagues with a smile.

Asked about Mr. Gandhi’s remarks, Congress general secretary (organisation) K.C. Venugopal declined to comment. “Whatever deliberation done by Rahul Gandhi ji, will be in the CWC room,” Mr. Venugopal said at a press conference.

‘Vote chori’

Mr. Gandhi also asserted that Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar will have to resign, saying the Congress would “fight to finish”.

On the campaign against the alleged “vote chori” (vote theft), Mr. Gandhi said only 20% of people had believed the issue when the campaign was launched, but more than 80% now agreed with him. He urged the party to raise the issue more forcefully.

Congress communications chief Jairam Ramesh said Mr. Gandhi told the meeting that the latest “expose” was the result of the sustained Congress campaign on alleged vote chori.

 “Rahul ji spoke about both virodh (opposition) and pratirodh (resistance). We will oppose inside Parliament and resist outside on the streets,” Mr. Ramesh said.

Suggestions in the closed-door meeting centred on mass mobilisation, with proposals for rallies and campaigns around slogans such as “Chalo Delhi, Vote Bachao” (March to Delhi, Save Your Vote). Several suggestions were made on the way forward.

Party leader Abhishek Singhvi suggested that the youth and students could take the lead in mobilising people, citing the Cockroach Janta Party’s role in the protests against question paper leaks. Priyanka Gandhi Vadra and Anand Sharma, however, suggested that the Congress should call on everyone, including political movements and parties, to join the campaign.

Manish Tewari suggested mobilising every Congressman and holding a dharna in Delhi until Mr. Gyanesh Kumar resigns as Chief Election Commissioner and the special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls is scrapped. He cited the example of Punjab’s farmers forcing the government to withdraw the three farm laws.

When Shashi Tharoor suggested that the party could hold a mass dharna on Gandhi Jayanti on October 2, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said Mr. Tharoor should be present at such a programme rather than merely write an article in a newspaper.

Kerala Chief Minister V.D. Satheesan briefed the meeting on Mr. Gyanesh Kumar’s record as a Kerala-cadre bureaucrat and the questionable decisions he had taken during his tenure, sources said.

On Nitish Kumar

Digvijaya Singh, who advocated the restoration of ballot papers in elections, was countered by the party leadership when he argued that the Congress should have been able to retain Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar.

Senior leader Sonia Gandhi said Mr. Kumar “betrayed” the Opposition bloc and that it was good he left soon.