New Delhi: Senior Congress leader Ghulam Nabi Azad, who quit the party on Friday, called it a “circle of inexperienced sycophants”, referring to people close to the Gandhi family. Azad alleged that this troupe consisting of “PAs and security guards” was taking all the decisions in the party.
Two days before Azad tendered his scathing resignation to Congress President Sonia Gandhi, another fellow Congressman said something similar while tendering his resignation.
Party’s national spokesperson Jaiveer Shergill resigned on Wednesday. Told In an interview to ThePrint following his resignation, the party was run by “PA and OSD and select leaders”. Shergill also said that despite trying for more than a year, he was unable to secure an appointment with the three Gandhis.
Azad and Shergill are not the first leaders who have walked out of the party to talk about this “coterie”. Other Congress leaders, some privately and some not, have also acknowledged the decision-making powers this “coterie” has. He has also talked about how “Kotri” restricts access to the three Gandhis.
But, who makes this “coterie”? ThePrint takes a look.
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KB Byju
When Azad talked about the “security guard”, he was Congress functionaries told ThePrint, possibly referring to KB Byju, a former member of Rahul Gandhi’s Special Protection Group (SPG).
When Rahul became the general secretary of the party in 2007, Byju became a part of Rahul’s team. However, he is not an official member of Congress. Party sources said that in fact, Byju’s relationship with Rahul dates back to 1991, when he was first assigned as the latter’s security detail.
He said Byju is in charge of all travel, movement and security arrangements of Rahul Gandhi, which makes him a trusted lieutenant of the former party president.
Alankar Sawai
A former executive of ICICI Bank, Alankar Sawai is a member of Rahul Gandhi’s personal staff and handles his day-to-day operations. He was also in charge of Gandhi’s social media accounts for some time. Party sources say Gandhi’s team has expanded since joining Sawai, yet he remains “chief of staff”.
In Congress circles, he is known to have restricted access to Rahul Gandhi. He is also in touch with Rahul’s media. Gandhi’s interactions with the media, except at one-off press conferences, are largely restricted. Sawai usually accompanies Rahul on all his political tours.
Sandeep Singh
What is Sawai for Rahul, Sandeep Singh is for Priyanka Gandhi. As the story goes, Singh, an alumnus activist of AISA (All India Students Association) in JNU, allegedly raised black flags. Manmohan Singh when the former prime minister visited the university campus. He then worked with the CPI (ML) before starting to work with the Congress.
Singh, in fact, worked with Rahul Gandhi before joining Priyanka’s team in 2018, as he took over as the party’s general secretary for Uttar Pradesh. He leads Priyanka’s team and advises them on political matters.
Singh also reportedly played a key role in ticket distribution and party strategy during the UP elections earlier this year. Some Congress leaders in UP had reportedly alleged that they needed to go into Singh’s good books to secure a ticket for themselves, and that he was restricting access to Priyanka Gandhi.
Kanishk Singh
Congress sources describe Kanisha Singh as a “friend” of Rahul Gandhi. He began his political career in 2003 after leaving his job with the New York-based merchant banking firm Lazard Freres & Company. Kanishk has done MBA from Wharton Business School.
When she started with Congress, Kanishk was working with Sheila Dikshit. Then in 2004 he wrote an article in which he compared Sonia Gandhi to John Kerry and was seen by the Gandhi family after predicting victory for both.
He has been working with the family, especially Rahul, since the 2004 Lok Sabha elections. Sources say that he handles “important matters” for the leadership, especially matters related to law, security etc.
Sachin Rao
From the same background as Kanishk, Sachin Rao is an MBA graduate in Corporate Strategy and International Business from Michigan Business School. Rao is currently in charge of Personnel Training and INC Messaging. He previously managed Indian Youth Congress (IYC) and NSUI (National Students Union of India).
In 2007, when Rahul took over as AICC general secretary, he worked with Rao on rejuvenating the IYC and NSUI. It was then considered the first assignment of the new general secretary in the party.
Sources say that it was Rao’s idea to hold internal elections for both the bodies for the first time between 2007-2009 during Rahul’s tenure. Rao is also a member of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), the highest decision-making body of the party.
K. Raju
1981 batch IAS officer K. Raju started working with the Congress in 2009. YS Rajasekhara Reddy inducted him into the Congress. Currently, he is part of Rahul Gandhi’s team and handles matters related to minority and caste politics, social welfare etc.
Praveen Chakraborty
Chakraborty is currently the president of the data and analytics wing of the Congress and is an important sounding board for Rahul Gandhi in all matters relating to economic policies. Chakraborty’s team conducts surveys and data-based technology initiatives for the party.
Most recently he led Congress’s digital membership drive. Wharton, an MBA from Chakraborty, took over from former Union minister P. Chidambaram on the much-hyped NYAY minimum wage guarantee scheme that Rahul had promised and touted as the Congress party’s panacea for poverty and unemployment ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. However, NYAY failed to cut the ice with voters.
‘A few select’ leaders
Now, this group of leaders in the “coterie” has become largely fluid, with some staying put and others moving in and out.
However, the two most consistent members have been KC Venugopal and Randeep Surjewala. While Venugopal is the general secretary in charge of the organisation, Surjewala was, until recently, in charge of communications and Karnataka state. Presently, he is the general secretary in-charge of Karnataka, after party colleague Jairam Ramesh took over the communications department in June this year.
Made general secretary in charge of Karnataka in 2017 after Rahul Gandhi took over as president, Venugopal was appointed to his current role in 2019. A former Lok Sabha MP from Kerala, Venugopal now represents the party in the Rajya Sabha.
Randeep Surjewala was made general secretary in 2017 and in-charge of the media department two years before that in 2015. However, his tenure as head of the department was full of criticism as many accused him of alienating the national media by being inaccessible. ,
In electoral politics, Surjewala had lost the last two elections, which he contested from his home state Haryana. He is currently a Rajya Sabha member from Rajasthan.
Besides this, another leader who enjoys closeness to Rahul Gandhi in terms of his political advice is Manickam Tagore. Tagore, a Lok Sabha MP from Tamil Nadu, is currently the secretary-in-charge of Telangana. Tagore has been instrumental in installing former TDP leader and ABVP worker Revanth Reddy as the state president of Telangana Congress.
(Edited by Siddharth Muraleedharan)
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