Ahmedabad, 27 May 2012

In the election year, while on one side the BJP ministers are exploring villages and towns to dedicate new development projects, the local Congress men on the other side manage publicity, visibility and attention through token protest programmes. ‘Token’ because their protest programmes involve a dozen or more people.

Yesterday when minister Anandiben Patel was in Khedbrahma to open a new Taluka seva sadan building, around 14 Congress workers led by local Congress MLA Ashwin Kotval rushed to the event venue, shouting slogans “Hitlershaahi door karo.” They were protesting because Kotwal was not invited to the govt function.

Police stopped them from entering the event venue and detained them, and they-the Congress workers were also readily gave up. So this was some five-ten minute affair involving 14-15 people outside the venue(watch the video).

So the smaller picture is that, the sitting MLA could manage only 12-15 people to protest against the state government event!!

But the larger picture is that, ever since Narendra Modi’s Sadbhavana fast, the Gujarat Congress it seems has decided to give counter programme against almost every government event.

A friend in Congress party said, “it provides visibility, attention and media coverage in local media”.

“Also it shows our presence in the particular area,” he further said.

So, it works like this. Even if you have 10-12 people with you, just do protest, and your party would ensure that your protest programme get good publicity in next day’s vernacular newspapers just next to the coverage of official government programme that you opposed.

Take an example of this Khedbrahma episode. The newspapers today have published both stories next to each other. While one story is about state minister inaugurating Rs 20 crore worth of new Taluka office, the story next to it narrates how Congress men protested outside the event(so what if few minutes), how police stopped them( so what gently) and how they were detained ( so what if small number).

We don’t know, what result such counter programmes or protest programmes would bring, but if mobilization of 10-15 persons can give some space in newspapers under the title of ‘detention of local MLA and supporters while protesting against the govt programme’, it seems for Congress men it’s enough for now. They call it visibility and they think it’s too important.

🗃️ This story is from our archives and may contain outdated information.