Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday held a closed-door interaction with several senior leaders, who are regular columnists in various newspapers and digital platforms, on devising a new narrative against the Modi government.
Sources who attended the meeting said while the Congress party is looking for “new building blocks for a narrative against the Modi government”, the party also talked about the need to avoid “the minefield of polarising issues.”
Most of the around 30 participants, including senior leaders P. Chidambaram, Verrappa Moilly, Manish Tewari, S. Jaipal Reddy, Rajeev Shukla, Shashi Tharoor, Abhishek Manu Singhvi and Randeep Surjewala, stressed on the need to talk about the Modi government’s track record on job creation, farmers’ distress, disenchantment among youth, and the worsening security situation in Jammu and Kashmir. The Congress decided to step up the questioning on the Rafale aircraft deal against the government.
The closed-door interaction also focussed on controversial statements made by Congress leaders that had a polarising effect.
In that context, Mr. Tharoor explained that his statement on “Hindu Pakistan”, was made in a remote school, was taken out of context.
However, Mr. Gandhi intervened said these days “a comment made in any remote corner reverberates across the country.”
Mr. Chidambaram called for sustained Congress campaigns on issues that “hurt” the Modi government.
The Congress president also asked for such interaction with a larger group to finalise the party’s communication strategy.
