Decades-old paper notes continue to shape Congress’s internal decisionmaking and communications.
With technology driving communication in the 21st century and letters and telegrams becoming obsolete, many decisions of the 140-year-old Indian National Congress still rely on a decades-old practice of “secret office notes” carried on green-coloured paper. Despite the shift to emails and secure messaging applications that are easily accessible on smartphones, the Congress has kept alive the practice of maintaining a physical paper communication system that ultimately receives the stamp of approval from the party’s top leadership, including the party chief and members of the Gandhi family.
Party leaders pointed out that the “green paper”, or office note, has been in use in the party for several decades.
A senior party leader said that most of the general secretaries still use this practice to send their notes on these green papers.
“This is the way of sending any communication to the party leadership regarding recommendations, reports, decisions and appointments, among other matters,” the party leader explained. Once the communication is delivered to the party leadership, decisions are announced after careful consideration of the recommendations and suggestions by the party chief. The final approval is then conveyed to the party’s general secretary (organisation) for release.
The party leader also highlighted that the same process applies to the party’s communication strategy. The high command can send a note to the communication in-charge to convey a message to the media, which is then released as an official party statement. He explained that before reaching the green paper stage, every communication passes through several other stages. However, once it reaches the green paper stage, it becomes sensitive and confidential, indicating that the decision is almost final and has already passed through the party’s highest leadership before any public announcement is made. The party leader said that only a small part of the process becomes public when necessary.
Asked why the party continues to maintain such a system, which appears to have been inherited from the British Raj era despite technological advances making communication much simpler, the party insider said: “It carries command, weight and provides a record of the entire sequence in a file that can later be checked, including what recommendations or notings were made when it went through the decision-making process.” He added that leaders use email or messaging applications such as Telegram and WhatsApp when they are away from the national capital, but these communications are also incorporated into official file notings once they reach the decision stage. The party leader further explained that many crucial decisions are still preserved by the party in separate files. Decades-old decisions, expenditure notes and communications remain available in these records. Another party leader pointed out that not only appointments and communications, but even candidate selection during elections, is routed through the green paper system after names are sent from the Central Election Committee to the party chief and members of the Gandhi family before being formally announced. A similar process is followed in parliamentary constituencies represented by the Gandhi family.
The party leader pointed out that K. L. Sharma, who was elected to the Lok Sabha from Amethi in 2024, earlier acted as the custodian of the Gandhi family’s constituencies. According to the leader, Sharma used the green paper system to seek approval from the Gandhi family for expenditure in their constituencies of Rae Bareli and Amethi. Sonia Gandhi represented Rae Bareli until 2024, while Rahul Gandhi represented Amethi until 2019 before being elected from Wayanad in the same year. In 2024, Rahul Gandhi won from both Rae Bareli and Wayanad, after which Priyanka Gandhi Vadra made her electoral debut from Wayanad in the bypoll following Rahul Gandhi’s decision to retain Rae Bareli.
The same mechanism is now in place in the parliamentary constituency of Wayanad, represented by Priyanka Gandhi, the party leader said.
