In its Adani protests in Parliament, Congress takes gloves off, tries everything else

So last Monday began with the government and Opposition reaching an agreement to not stall proceedings in the House. The Congress was also urged by its own members and alliance partners, who wanted to raise other concerns in the House, to not be obstinate about the Adani issue.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi with Congress MPs Manickam Tagore and Saptagiri Sankar Ulaka, wearing face masks of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Adani Group Chairman Gautam Adani, at a protest demanding a probe into the bribery case in the US involving the billionaire industrialist. (PTI)

A meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Strategy Group held the same day decided “to come up with new ways to highlight the Adani issue”. “We were told by Rahul ji to come up with ideas. Since then, we have come up with different ways to make the protest more eye-catching,” said a Congress MP, who was part of that meeting. “This way, we are not stalling the House, and also bringing attention to an issue which we feel must reach the people.”

On Tuesday and Wednesday last week, Congress leaders and MPs of other INDIA bloc parties came to the House bearing a big black banner reading: “Modi-Adani are one”.

On Thursday, they wore black jackets with a sticker affixed: “Modi Adani ek hai, Adani safe hai (Modi-Adani are one, Adani is safe)”. It was a play on Modi’s preferred campaign slogan during the recent Maharashtra elections, “Ek hain toh safe hain”. Rahul Gandhi stuck to his white T-shirt and khaki trousers look, fixing his sticker to the shirt.

On Friday, Congress MPs came to Parliament holding pocket copies of the Constitution and wearing anti-pollution masks that had on them a similar message: “Modi, Adani bhai bhai (Modi, Adani are brothers)”.

A Congress MP said that another reason for the new style of protests was that “the press was not taking an active interest in the Adani issue, and we needed to change that”.

Monday’s “interview” certainly grabbed eyeballs, not the least because Gandhi was central to it. Several Congress MPs wore either the Modi or the Adani mask to Parliament Monday, and ensured that the cameras caught them hugging or shaking hands in the Parliament complex. “We wanted to show the partnership between the two,” said a Congress MP who was part of the protest.

According to the MP, Gandhi then picked two of them – one wearing a “Modi” mask, and the other an “Adani” one – and led them closer to where the reporters were stationed, before doing an “impromptu” question-and-answer session.

“Aaj kal kya ho raha hai bhai (What is happening these days, brother)?” Gandhi began the conversation. Tagore as ‘Adani’, with his arm around Kalge as ‘Modi’, replied: “Main jo bhi bolta hoon, yeh karta hai. Main kuchch bhi chahta hoon, port chahiye, airport chahiye (Whatever I say, he does. Whatever I want – airports, ports)….”

Gandhi then asks, “What are you trying to get these days?” A pat Tagore replies: “We have a meeting in the evening.”

Gandhi then asks about their relationship, to which Tagore says: “We are the same. We will do everything together… We have been together for years.” On their future, Tagore says: “India is nothing but me.”

Why is he (Modi) not letting Parliament run “because of you (Adani)”, Gandhi then asks Tagore. “That man is missing. Amit bhai didn’t come to the House. We will have to ask Amit bhai,” Tagore says.

Asked by Gandhi next on why ‘Modi’ (that is, Kalge) was so quiet and was not talking much these days, Tagore says: “He is in tension.” The Opposition MPs break into laughter.

Congress MPs said that while the masks were a part of the plan, the interview by Gandhi was not. “Rahul ji just came and started asking questions to the two of them. It was all done in a matter of three-four minutes. Even the two MPs weren’t expecting the questions and weren’t prepared, but they went along,” the Congress MP who hailed “the creativity” of the three said.

Party leaders said that since last week, during the meeting of Congress MPs at 10.15 am daily, there is a discussion on the next day’s protest, and depending on the views of the MPs, an idea is finalised.

A senior MP has been given the responsibility of sourcing and readying the material, whether masks, banners etc. “The MP is doing it with the help of Congress youth organisations, and he is the one who brings the material to Parliament every morning,” said a colleague.

There is no question of easing up on Adani, party leaders indicated, talking about Gandhi’s declaration at a press conference on November 21, days before the start of the Winter Session, that the issue will be among the key ones the party will raise.

If there is disappointment that allies like the Samajwadi Party and Trinamool Congress are not participating in the protests, the party has put them aside.

A Congress MP said: “The country will see more such protests over the next few days. Maybe these will be more creative.”