Why is Rahul Gandhi recounting turnaround stories of McDonald's, Coca-Cola?

Turnaround anecdotes

Congress president Rahul Gandhi (pictured) on Monday said the founder of international aerated drink brand Coca-Cola once used to sell “shikanji” (lemonade). He also said the owner of popular American fast food company McDonald's earlier used to run a “dhaba” (roadside restaurant). The Congress is trying to reach out to the OBCs in the run-up to the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. OBCs have traditionally voted for non-Congress political parties.

Guessing game

The Congress party's Kerala State unit is convulsing. Its leaders and rank and file are upset that the party central leadership has given the Rajya Sabha seat to fall vacant after the retirement of its leader P J Kurien to ally Kerala Congress (Mani). On Sunday, an upset worker posted an advertisement on a website that stated that the party's state unit headquarters was on sale for a price of Rs 10,000. At a meeting of the party unit's political affairs committee on Monday, Kurien attacked former chief minister Oommen Chandy. He alleged the Rajya Sabha seat was sold without consulting the political affairs committee. Chandy was absent from 

the meeting.

Seat for support?

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah (pictured) has been meeting several eminent citizens as part of his party's “sampark for samarthan” or contact for support outreach. His meetings with former cricketer Kapil Dev, film actor Madhuri Dixit and former Army chief Dalbir Singh Suhag have led to speculation that at least a couple of them could be nominated to the Rajya Sabha which has three vacancies after the retirement of Sachin Tendulkar, Rekha and Anu Aga in April.