On the streets for days now, the Congress is bracing for the big fight — the possible arrest of Rahul Gandhi by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) next week. While there is no clarity on whether this will happen, the Congress top brass doesn’t want to be taken by surprise or poor planning.
Sources have confirmed to News18.com that all state units and other supporting units of the party have been asked to be on alert from Sunday, June 19 — a day before Rahul Gandhi appears for the fourth round of questioning by the agency. The leaders and cadres have been asked to either to come to Delhi or be in their respective state capitals to ensure maximum coverage and stage protests against a possible arrest.
As reported earlier, the Congress plan and strategy worked upon was to emulate the Indira Gandhi arrest in 1977 on corruption charges, where she challenged the then central government and used her arrest to make a political comeback.
Sources also say part of the planning to “capitalise” on the arrest revolves around the Gandhi siblings, who too are gearing up for what lies ahead.
The fact is that the Congress top leadership, especially the Gandhis, is aware that this is likely to be a long haul. Rahul Gandhi has often used the tagline “Daro Mat” or don’t be scared. An arrest would only add on to his slogan that he is unstoppable.
Sources say that in case the arrest happens next week, the Congress cadre has been alerted to hit the streets, hold press conferences across the country, ‘gherao’ key offices and also be aggressive on social media. The task is thus cut out for new communications department head Jairam Ramesh.
It’s a chance that the Congress doesn’t want to give up on and lose to capture the pulse and imagination of the voters, especially in the run-up to the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
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