No trace of Rahul Gandhi at Youth Congress rally

NEW DELHI: Congress ‘youth icon’ Rahul Gandhi was supposed to speak out against the 100 days ‘failed performance’ of the Narendra Modi government at Thursday’s Youth Congress ‘Yuv Akrosh’ rally (youth show of anger) in Delhi.

Youth Congress posters all over central Delhi had flaunted Gandhi’s picture, urging everyone to head towards Jantar Mantar where the Youth Congress was to seek a ‘report card’ from the Modi government.

In the end, there was no trace of Gandhi at the venue, where an estimated 4,000 Youth Congress activists staged a protest, accusing the Modi regime of all-round failure. Some of the demonstrators were lathi-charged by the police for allegedly crossing the barricade erected by the police.

After the show, Gandhi was “kind enough” to pay a low-key visit to the headquarters to congratulate the activists for their “spirited shown,” according to Youth Congress sources.

Youth Congress president Rajiv Satav asserted that Gandhi was “never supposed to address the gathering.” But the buzz in the YC circles was that Gandhi’s arrival was linked to “the size of the crowd mobilised.”

Congress circles were divided on whether it was appropriate for the ‘general’ to have only visited the ‘army barracks’. Some even questioned the Youth Congress logic of choosing a ‘C’ grade venue for the dharna. Youth Congress is directly under Gandhi’s charge.

However, a crowd of even 5,000 would look too small if a bigger venue like the Ramlila Maidan was chosen.

Despite Gandhi’s ‘no show’, the dharna managed to throw traffic out of gear in some parts of Central Delhi. Though it was originally planned around the time the NDA regime completed 100 days, it did not happen as the Delhi Police did not give clearance.