Seat of power gets a taste of Delhi’s monsoon

For a party that is stingy with parting with information, the Congress leaked like a sieve on Friday. But it had nothing to do with news, reports Saroj Nagi.

For a party that is stingy with parting with information, the Congress leaked like a sieve on Friday. But it had nothing to do with news.

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The media hall at the All India Congress Committee was instead flooded with the water freely pouring through the prefabricated roof.

The skies opened up when spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan was wrapping up the party’s regular briefing. And in a matter of minutes, rainwater came down in a heavy shower through every possible available gap, including the dozen odd lighting slats in the room and the gap between the wall and the air conditioners.

Immediately thereafter, the lights went out — and the flashbulbs of TV cameras came on. There was also some concern whether the roof would give way.

“We are, after all, a party of the aam aadmi,’’ quipped a Congress leader who did not want to be named, trying to make light of the situation at the ruling party’s headquarters.

Some of the rainwater also collected just outside AICC treasurer Motilal Vora’s room, adjoining Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s. But that had more to do with the aesthetics of Lutyen’s bungalows that has "jali" work. While there was no way to know whether the Gandhis’ rooms were dry, there was a trickle or two in some other rooms.

The lawns outside turned into a marshy land. Tents and poles lay clumped. On Thursday, the party had pitched up tents for a function to commemorate Rajiv Gandhi’s birthday.