Prime minister Narendra Modi, as well as the entire nation, was caught by surprise when Congress president Rahul Gandhi hugged him after his address to the Parliament during the no-confidence motion moved by opposition parties recently.
The hug as well as the wink by Rahul in the lower House of the Parliament caught the imagination of many whereas the BJP wrote it off as a mischievous gimmick. How did the top leadership of the Congress react to the extra ordinary gesture by the party chief? Were they aware of Rahul’s hug plan in advance? Onmanorama asked these questions to senior Congress leader and working committee member K C Venugopal during an exclusive chat. Venugopal claims he was unaware of what was happening despite sitting next to Rahul in Parliament.
He also said the gesture was hailed by the working committee members. “I had no clue at all about what Rahul ji was going to do. I believe it was an instant reaction. Unlike previous instances, Rahul Gandhi’s speech in the Parliament that day was a bit emotional. Even as he was attacking the Modi government on a number of political issues, including corruption in Rafale deal, he mentioned the personal attacks by BJP leaders including Modi.
“I think, without the hug the speech would not have been complete,” said Venugopal. He also revealed to Onmanorama that all the 50 members of the CWC, the party’s top decision making body, were in praise of Rahul’s gesture when the panel met recently. Some of the members said the hug had an ‘electrifying effect’, he said. He, however, did not mention the playful act of Rahul winking at fellow parliamentarians after the hug.
Watch this space for a detailed interview in which Venugopal speaks of the Congress’ current status at the national level and in Kerala, the party’s game plan for 2019 Lok Sabha polls, its prospects in the forthcoming Assembly polls and behind-the-curtain moves in Karnataka that led to the Congress-JD(S) alliance.