The placard: Overhead, oversized, chasing cameras

[related-post]

The Congress went fancier from day two, with printed slogans in multiple colours. BJP members countered these with paper posters, a rather hurried job, with slogans such as “C for corruption, C for Congress”.

Improvisation came when it became clear that Lok Sabha TV was not showing either the protesters in the well or their placards. On July 31, the 10th day, the placards doubled in both length and breadth. “These were 2 feet × 4 feet. The earlier ones had been 1×2. Our protest was not being seen by the outside world,” an MP said.

Rajeev Satav was in charge of getting the placards made. The former Youth Congress president used his “old setup”. The slogans are the work of the communications department and the “Youth Congress boys”.

Younger MPs Gaurav Gogoi, Ravneet Singh Bittu and Satav would carry the placards inside from the CPP office and back. Inside, Ninong Ering, Sushmita Dev, Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury, Deepender Hooda and Mausam Noor would hold these aloft.

Although the placards were larger, catching the camera was still proving difficult. Then Rahul Gandhi got into the act. He asked MPs to raise the placards above their heads so that they could be seen on television. Hooda was seen bringing more placards distributing to those standing in the well. A Congress MP said Rahul even walked around the House inspecting the camera positions.

It was decided later that members carrying placards would stand in front of ministers on the other side of the well. The idea was to catch the cameras focused on either the Speaker or the minister who was speaking at the moment.

The Congress members were constantly improvising. For instance, Satav was not in the House last Friday. He could not see the placards his colleagues were holding aloft as by then television cameras were focusing on the Speaker from the side too. Finally, Congress members stood on both sides of the Speaker.