Caught on the wrong foot

In Congress, knives are out for the people who advised party Vice-president Rahul Gandhi to met PM

In the Congress, knives are out for the people who advised party Vice-president Rahul Gandhi to join the delegation that met Prime Minister Narendra Modi to flag farmers’ concerns on demonetisation. The Congress had sought the meeting some days ago and it was thought that Ghulam Nabi Azad, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha, and his Lok Sabha counterpart, Mallikarjun Kharge, would lead the delegation. They would meet the PM, say their piece and walk out. But there was a Congress powwow when an appointment with the PM was granted just as the Opposition was uniting outside the House over his non-appearance in the two Houses. Azad is said to have been of the view that Gandhi should not join the delegation; others in the party said the party vice-president must go and tell the PM a thing or two about the effect of note ban on the rural economy. They also wanted to show the farmers how serious Gandhi was about taking up their grievances. Unfortunately, the meeting had the opposite effect: The other Opposition parties were taken aback by Gandhi’s pictures with the PM while they were shouting in the House that the PM never met them. Another own goal by the Congress?