When senior Congress leaders, including Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka, landed at Mallikarjun Kharge's 10, Rajaji Marg residence on Tuesday afternoon, it was believed to be to celebrate the party president's birthday. The veteran Dalit leader turned 84 on Tuesday (July 21). However, the Congress sprang a surprise after the leaders headed straight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's residence at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is just 2.3 km away. Not only was the media caught off guard, but even the security personnel had no inkling of Congress's secret operation.
After reaching the Prime Minister's address, the Congress leaders staged a sit-in and raised slogans demanding the resignation of Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah over the brutal crackdown on the Parliament march by the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP). Taken aback by the Congress's flash protest, the government deputed Jitendra Singh, Minister of State (MoS) for the PMO, to tackle the situation. However, Rahul refused to budge and dug in his heels.
INSIDE CONGRESS'S COVERT OPERATION
It was surprising for the Congress to organise such a flash protest. The party is usually calibrated and calculated when it comes to organising protests. An invite usually goes out to the media. The party's previous agitations have mostly been limited to Parliament till now.
This time there was little indication of what was to come.
After Parliament proceedings got washed out for a second straight day, the Congress initially planned to march to Vijay Chowk in the afternoon, our reporter Mausami Singh learnt from party sources. However, that plan got leaked. If they went ahead, the police would have stopped the leaders from protesting.
Police deployment had already been increased after Monday's CJP 'Sansad Chalo' march turned violent. Protesters engaged in a pitched battle with the security personnel just metres away from Parliament, where the Monsoon session was underway. On Tuesday, central Delhi was turned into a fortress.
The Congress leadership quickly altered its plan. Only a handful of senior leaders were aware of the move.
Around 3 pm, MPs and senior leaders quietly gathered at the Congress president's residence under the pretext of attending his birthday lunch. It did not raise any suspicion among the security personnel.
As soon as Rahul, Priyanka and other leaders assembled, they left Kharge's residence together and headed towards PM Modi's residence. The Congress's apparent objective was to reach the gates of 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, and symbolically register its protest.
The sudden move caught the police off guard, forcing security personnel to scramble as the Congress leaders marched towards the high-security zone. They were eventually stopped metres away from PM Modi's residence.
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Published By:
Abhishek De
Published On:
Jul 21, 2026 17:54 IST