Attacking the Modi government, the former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the government didn’t spare any effort to destroy the Congress and but the party has never bowed down to the government.
The tone and tenor of the two-day plenary session, usually held every five years, was set by Mr. Gandhi’s brief opening speech where he accused the BJP of spreading hatred and failing to address issues such unemployment and agrarian distress.
“What is the difference between our opponents and the Congress,” Mr Gandhi asked and said, “They use hate and anger, we use love and brotherhood. The Congress believes that this country belongs to us all, every faith, caste, individual.”
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He said millions of youth today are fatigued and don’t get answers when they look at Prime Minister Modi. “They don’t understand how will they get jobs. How will the farmers get right price for their produce. The country is, in a way, tired and looking for a way out. And I want to say this that only the Congress can show the way,”said Mr. Gandhi.
The party’s political resolution, that would guide its political philosophy, talked of making sacrifices and working with other parties to keep the BJP out of power. “The Congress party is prepared to make whatever sacrifices required to defend the ethos of our Constitution,” read the resolution that adopted unanimously.
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The formulation is significant in the backdrop of leaders like Trinamool Congress chief Mamata Banerjee, Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and even NCP’s Sharad Pawar being projected as possible leaders of a Federal Front as an alternative to the NDA or UPA.
'Revert to paper ballots'
The Congress also said the Election Commission of India should revert to ballot papers during elections to restore the credibility of the electoral process as “there are apprehensions of misuse of EVMs to manipulate the outcome contrary to popular verdict.”
Facing defections and with BJP poaching some of their key leaders, the party said, “it believed in introducing a legislative disincentive by debarring defectors from contesting elections for six years.” This, the Congress said, will check misuse of money power to create political instability.
After being wiped out in Andhra Pradesh over the bifurcation of the State and creation of Telangana in 2010, the Congress “reiterated its commitment to grant special category status to Andhra Pradesh if the party came back to power.”
The party document also talked about making a distinction between ‘Hinduism’ that embraces a composite culture and Hindutva that is essentially a political ideology. While speaking on the resolution, Congress Shashi Thaoor said the party “must not cede the Hindu space to the BJP.”
Calling on the media to restore the balance in national narrative in the interest of safeguarding democracy, the political resolution also talked about deteriorating internal and external security environment, atrocities on Dalits and tribals and about empowering women and youth. The Congress demanded that the Women’s Reservation Bill in Parliament be passed before the 2019 Elections.