Opposition protest: In the crowd, a ‘caged parrot’

A group of Congress supporters thought that “symbolising the CBI as a caged parrot under the Modi government” would be a sureshot way of getting Rahul’s attention.

Hari Ram during the protest in New Delhi Friday. (Express Photo/Prem Nath Pandey)

Sitting atop a mini-truck outside CBI headquarters, Congress chief Rahul Gandhi smiled, looking at no one in particular. Everyone wanted his attention.

A group of Congress supporters thought that “symbolising the CBI as a caged parrot under the Modi government” would be a sureshot way of getting Rahul’s attention. Hari Ram, a daily wage labourer, soon found himself inside a metal cage.

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The supporters thrust the cage up in the air and started pushing it towards Rahul. The Congress chief smiled at Ram, who smiled back. The supporters wanted to hand over the cage to Rahul. He said no. The act over, Ram crawled out of the cage and unzipped the costume.

“My name is Hari Ram. I am from MP,” he said.

“Kuch mila ki nahi? (did you get paid?)” a TV journalist asked Ram. “Those things get done in advance,” pat came his reply.

Meanwhile, the crowd was getting impatient. “The leader should speak,” said Prashant Kumar, a tailor.

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Rahul gestured at Amit Malik, Delhi NSUI ex-president, to get a model jet to the van. Malik smiled. His efforts had paid off. The replica formed Rahul’s backdrop for the remainder of the event.

The sound boxes crackled. Rahul had finally taken the microphone.

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