In the last meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party before the country goes to general elections, UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi attacked the BJP government saying “bluff, bluster and intimidation” have been the Modi government’s philosophy. She also hailed her son Rahul Gandhi who took over the reins of the party from her.
In a blistering attack on the Centre, Ms. Gandhi alleged that there was an “all-pervasive atmosphere of fear and strife” across the country.
New hope
“We go to the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls with renewed confidence and resolve. Our victories in Rajasthan, Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh have given us new hope,” she said at the meeting attended by Rahul Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress’ leader in Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge and Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad, among others.
Congress president Rahul Gandhi, senior party leaders Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh and others during a protest over the Rafale deal in front of Mahatma Gandhi's statue outside Parliament, in New Delhi on February 13, 2019.
“Our opponents were earlier projected as being invincible. The Congress president took them head on, mobilising and motivating lakhs of our workers who, with him, gave their all. We won in what were believed to be their strongholds,” she said. Slamming the Modi dispensation, the Congress Parliamentary Party leader said the foundations of “our democratic and secular republic” have come under “systematic assault” by the government. The very values, principles and provisions of the Constitution have been under continued attack from the Modi government, she alleged.
“Institutions have been subverted. Political opponents have been hounded. Dissent has been suppressed. Freedom of speech — the most basic of all freedoms — has been sought to be curtailed and silenced,” the UPA chairperson said.
“Bluff, bluster and intimidation have been the governance philosophy of the Modi government. Truth and transparency have been brazenly tossed aside,” Ms. Gandhi alleged.
Ms. Gandhi also heaped praise on her son who took over the reins of the party in December 2017.
“He [Rahul Gandhi] has worked tirelessly. He has also reached out to other political parties who share our vision of India, who share our agenda for faster economic growth with full social justice, who share our agenda for the welfare of kisans and khet-mazdoors , women and youth, workers in the organised and unorganised sector,” she said.
