2 min readNew DelhiUpdated: Jul 21, 2026 07:24 PM IST
The planning for the sit-in at 7, Lok Kalyan Marg, which is also Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s residence, was not just a surprise for the government and police, but also for nearly 25 Congress MPs, who were not even told where they were going till they reached PM’s residence.
Congress sources said that in order to keep the protest and sit-in a secret and to not to alert the police or the government, the Congress’ top leadership didn’t inform its MPs about Gandhi’s plan and simply informed the MPs that they need to reach party president Mallikarjun Kharge’s residence — 10 Rajaji Marg — for birthday celebrations for party chief, which is around 500 metres from the PM’s residence.
An MP said that none of the 25-odd MPs who had gathered at Kharge’s residence had a clue about what the plan was. “We were just told that we will get a chance to wish Kharge ji and we should reach his residence,” said an MP.
He added: “Once the birthday celebrations were over, we were told to follow Rahul Gandhi’s convoy without asking questions. We did it and reached 7, Lok Kalyan Marg and were told that we have to sit here,” the MP told The Indian Express at the protest site.
It was a plan devised by the Gandhi siblings and KC Venugopal, the MP said.
The plan, executed to the tee by the top Congress leadership, in a way, helped the leading opposition party claim some space into the ongoing issue of NEET paper leaks and police action on the students on Monday. At a time when most of the non-Congress opposition has rallied behind activist Sonam Wangchuk, who is on a hunger strike, and the Cockroach Janta Party (CJP), while two opposition leaders – NCP (SP) chief Sharad Pawar and AAP’s Arvind Kejriwal visited the Jantar Mantar protest venue Tuesday, Supriya Sule visited 7, Lok Kalyan Marg — where Rahul and Priyanka were holding their protest, before they along with their MPs were detained and taken away.