Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi sits inside a police bus as he is detained in New Delhi on Wednesday. AFP

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, November 2

No one in Congress circles had imagined how this day would turn out for party vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who only few months ago had been turned back from Jantar Mantar by a group of ex-servicemen protesting over One Rank One Pension. Retired soldiers had then said they didn’t want the matter politicised.But today as politics played out around Subedar Ram Kishan Grewal’s suicide with Delhi police providing the fodder by detaining top leaders, including Rahul who wanted to meet the deceased’s relatives. Congress leaders privately said Rahul had made his point and his presence was felt.“Have you seen this kind of energy in the party since Congress president Sonia Gandhi’s Varanasi road show on August 2? The whole leadership is on the streets with Rahul ji who just wanted to express solidarity with the grief-stricken family,” a Congress leader said.Seniors also acknowledged that Rahul had made his point by preferring to be detained for his attempts to meet the wards of the deceased ex-serviceman rather than seek bail.Personally, Rahul made it a government versus Subedar Grewal’s family issue by saying upon his release tonight: “The least government should do is apologise to the family which has made a sacrifice. All I wanted was to meet them and say I am with them in this hour of grief but they detained the family and harassed them just so they wanted to speak to me.” Rahul was detained by the Delhi Police for nearly eight hours.Congress leaders, meanwhile, said OROP would become Rahul’s second major agitation point after the land acquisition ordinance on which the government had been forced to blink.Social activist Anna Hazare, a former soldier, said: “Unfortunate that ex-serviceman committed suicide. On one hand the government t glorifies soldiers and on the other doesn’t fulfil promises.”A group of ex-servicemen, which has been leading the protest at Jantar Mantar over OROP scheme, distanced itself from the case. “The suicide did not take place at Jantar Mantar. Grewal’s friends had informed the police about the suicide bid but it was too late. He was taken to a hospital from where they wanted to bring the body to Jantar Mantar, which we refused,” Col Anil Kaul (retd), media adviser to United Front of Ex-Servicemen Movement was quoted by PTI.