Worried that the Congress was isolated in Tamil Nadu and was facing a trying time at the national level, Union Finance Minister and senior party leader P. Chidambaram on Tuesday called for speedy efforts to set the situation right and beat back the rising right wing forces.
Addressing party workers here, he said that though the Congress-led UPA government had implemented several development programmes and brought in “revolutionary laws” in the past two years, the party was isolated because of political realignments.
At the same time, the Congress could not compromise on its policies, he said, suggesting that “the party leadership at the national and State levels take stock of the situation and set it right.”
Acknowledging that the BJP had been making moves after projecting a new leader, Mr. Chidambaram said the rise of right wing forces, promoted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), posed a serious threat to the country.
“The BJP is only one of the many faces of the RSS, and the Congress should be wary of these forces,” he said. “Our real fight is not with the BJP, but with the RSS.”
The right wing and oppressive forces were against the Congress, he said, and the RSS was trying to foster Hindutva and male chauvinism. The Congress was opposed to these forces. “We face a major war in the coming years, and the Congress has to make some very crucial decisions to win it,” he said.
Mr. Chidambaram said changes in party posts were inevitable, and Congressmen should enlist more youths into the party.
In the restructuring of the organisation, elders should give way to youngsters, and this applied to him also, he said.
