If a majority of speakers at the AICC session on Friday were in battle mode, delivering rally ground speeches, promising to work hard to ensure that the Congress wins the next elections and Rahul Gandhi becomes Prime Minister, only two speakers – both from Kerala – struck a cautionary note.
The former Speaker of the Kerala Assembly and ex-MP A.C. Jose, said the party lost Delhi despite an excellent development record because of corruption and price rise. If the Congress did not pay heed to this, it would face the consequences in the Lok Sabha elections, too. He also criticised the Congress for having one omnibus resolution rather than the separate resolutions on political affairs, the economic situation and foreign policy as it did in the past: These were important documents, Mr. Jose said, for the party to understand its position on critical issues.
His younger colleague, V.D. Satheesan, a serving MLA in the Kerala Assembly and a national secretary of the party, too, pointed out that there had been no qualitative discussion in the party to address people’s growing aversion to the political class. The mode of communication had changed, but the Congress was still using an outdated political vocabulary.
Referring to the increase in the rise of petroleum products, Mr. Satheesan said it was time the party assessed the impact of economic liberalisation: “If a government initiative is not working for the people, it must be changed.”
