AHMEDABAD,: After two days of brainstorming, the Congress on Wednesday sent out a strong message to party cadres from the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel to strengthen the organisation and take on the BJP electorally on the basis of its ideological strength.
After hours of deliberations at the AICC session organised on the banks of the Sabarmati river, the party hit out at the BJP over the issue of nationalism saying while the Congress binds people together, the saffron party seeks to divide.
The Congress adopted three resolutions at the session, including ‘Nyaypath’ that seeks to take the BJP head-on over its nationalism push and strongly pitched itself as the defender of the Constitution, vowing to “fight back every assault on the federal structure”.
While one resolution was on seeking to assert the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on his 150th birth anniversary year passed by the CWC on Tuesday, the other special resolution – ‘Why Congress is needed in Gujarat’ with motto of ‘Nutan Gujarat, Nutan Congress’ (new Gujarat, new Congress), focussed on bringing the Congress back to power in Gujarat, where the BJP has been in power since 1995.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge set the tone for the session by giving a stern warning to non-performers to rest or retire.
Talking tough in his inaugural address, he said, “I also want to say that those who do not help in party work, need to rest, those who do not fulfil their responsibilities must retire,” amid applause from Congress leaders and workers.
He also alleged “fraud” in elections and said the Maharashtra polls were won like this as he made a strong pitch for return to ballot paper. He attacked the Election Commission for not stopping the “irregularities” and instead taunting the parties raising questions.
Congress leader Rahul Gandhi also attacked the Narendra Modi government on domestic and international issues, saying the the Waqf (Amendment) Act as “anti-Constitution” and an attack on the freedom of religion while warning that the BJP-RSS will soon go after the rights of other minorities soon.
He also hit out at Modi over his “silence” on imposition of tariffs by the US and asked where he was hiding. He also recalled how Modi used to “boast about his friend”.
“Where is the 56-inch chest”, Gandhi asked after alleging that Modi did not speak anything while being seated next to Bangladesh chief adviser Mohammad Yunus, who gave adverse remarks.
Kharge also hit out at the ruling BJP government accusing it of inciting communalism by raising 500 years-old issues and seeking to divide people and promote hatred among them, instead of preparing for future challenges.
Such dangerous thinking should never be supported, he said.
Kharge also stressed that role of district Congress committee presidents in the organisation will be greatly enhanced and they will henceforth have a say in the selection of party candidates.
“The role of district presidents is going to be important in the formation of the organisation,” Kharge said, adding that their appointment has to be done impartially and they would be involved in the candidate selection process in polls.
Kharge said we are once again fighting for India’s independence, claiming that in this second battle for independence the enemies are injustice, inequality, discrimination, poverty and communalism.
The only difference is that back then foreigners used to promote injustice, poverty and inequality, now our own government is doing it, he said.
“Democracy is being finished slowly, slowly, slowly,” he alleged, adding that monopoly is being established with resources being handed to a few crony capitalists.
“If this continues, the Narendra Modi government and Modi will sell off the whole country and go,” he alleged.
The Congress chief also said the Supreme Court has come down harshly against Governors, who sat on bills passed in opposition-ruled states, and it was like a “tight slap”.
The Ahmedabad session, themed “Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan aur Sangharsh,” was attended by more than 1,700 elected and co-opted AICC members.
Rahul Gandhi, who addressed the AICC delegates just before conclusion, cautioned of economic turmoil after tariffs, accusing Modi of succumbing to US pressures, even as he made a strong push for bring the caste census.
“Did you see the photograph of PM Modi hugging Trump? This time he ordered Modi ji that ‘we will not hug but will impose new tariffs’. PM Modi did not say a word. To divert attention from this they ran a drama in Parliament for two days,” he said, asking, “Where is the PM hiding?”
He also assured that the party would break the 50 per cent ceiling of reservation for SCs/STs/OBCs and pushed for a caste census across the country to provide equal share to people as per their population.
Gandhi lauded Congress-ruled Telangana for showing the path to the country by conducting the caste survey by raising the reservation of OBCs to 42 per cent.
“We will break the wall of 50 per cent reservation. What Telangana has done, we are going to do across the country,” he asserted.
“Modi ji talks 24 hours about backwards, tribals, but when it comes to their ‘bhaagidari’ (participation), then BJP people keep quiet,” he noted.
The former Congress chief also hit out at the BJP-RSS for their polarising agenda, alleging that they were full of hatred. He attacked them over the recent incident in Rajasthan, where a temple was purified with ‘Gangajal’ after CLP leader Tika Ram Jully, a Dalit, visited it.
Referring to an article in an RSS-linked magazine, Gandhi alleged that it reveals that the BJP and RSS have now set their sight on the rights of Christians, and Sikhs would be next.
Noting the fight is for the Constitution and it is not easy, he said, “They have everything at their disposal but we have truth and the love of the people on our side.”
Exhorting the party workers to be battle ready, Gandhi said, “change is in the air” as people are fed up with the BJP.
In the resolution, the Congress said nationalism for the Congress means binding people together, while the “pseudo-nationalism espoused by the BJP-RSS” is marred by vitriol and prejudice.
It also accused BJP of being in a “Machiavellian quest for exploitative power”.
The party also asserted that its commitment to secularism was inspired by the age-old traditions of India while the BJP government and its affiliates were “determined to fracture” the core national spirit for “political gain” and “lust for power”.
Terming as “alarming” the alleged discovery of a large amount of cash from the residence of a high court judge, the Congress said a mechanism for judicial accountability, without compromising judicial independence, is the need of the hour.
