Manas Dasgupta
NEW DELHI, Dec 26: Congress has decided to step up its protest against the “insulting” remarks of the union home minister Amit Shah against the maker of the constitution Babasaheb Ambedkar and expressed concern over threat to Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy from those in power in power at the Centre and the ideologies and institutions nurturing them.
Giving his opening remarks on Thursday at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at Belagavi in Karnataka named ‘Nav Satyagraha Baithak’ to mark the 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi assuming the presidentship of the party at the Belgaum session, the Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said those who hold the constitutional positions were undermining the value of the constitution, controlling the constitutional institutions like the Election Commission and hurling insulting remarks at the framers of the constitution.
The Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) chief Sonia Gandhi, who could not attend the session due to her ill health, in a message on the occasion asserted that Mahatma Gandhi had been and would continue to be the fundamental source of inspiration, and expressed concern that his legacy was under threat from those in power in Delhi and its institutions influenced by it.
In her message read out at the CWC meeting, Sonia Gandhi lashed out at the Modi government and the RSS, and called for fighting the forces which she claimed had created a toxic atmosphere that led to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Mr Kharge expressed shock that the Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his government was not ready to accept that Mr Shah made any mistake in insulting Dr Ambedkar and said his party would step up the fight for the respect of the architect of the Constitution. “We raised objections, protested, demonstrated. Now protests are taking place all over the country. But the Prime Minister and the government are not ready to accept their mistake. Far from seeking an apology and resignation from Amit Shah, they supported the objectionable statement,” he said.
The Prime Minister issued a statement in defence of the Home Minister and a false case was filed against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, he said. “This is the attitude of today’s rulers towards the Constitution and its architect. But we are not going to be afraid of anyone nor are we going to bow down. We will fight till the last breath for the ideology of Nehru-Gandhi and the respect of Babasaheb,” Mr Kharge said.
“Those who have taken oath on the Constitution are the ones spreading lies. Those in power take the help of falsehood and accuse us. We have to expose and defeat such people,” he said.
“The matter of concern is that people’s faith in the electoral process is gradually decreasing because questions are being raised on the impartiality of the Commission. A few days ago, they changed the election rules so that the information that the court had ordered to be shared could be stopped. What is it that they are trying to hide?” he said.
“Sometimes the names of voters are deleted from the list, sometimes they are prevented from casting their vote, sometimes there is a sudden increase in the number of voters in the list, sometimes at the last moment of voting, the vote percentage increases unexpectedly. These are some questions that keep arising for which no satisfactory answer is found,” Mr Kharge said.
The Congress chief asserted that 2025 will be the year of the party’s organisational empowerment. “We will fill all the vacant posts in the organisation. We will fully implement the Udaipur Declaration. We will equip our organisation with the skills required to win elections from AICC to Mandal and booth,” he said.
“We will have to find such people who are ideologically committed. Who are ready to fight to protect the Constitution. Those who believe in the Congress party’s idea of India will have to be connected to the party. They will have to be brought into the mainstream. They will have to be involved in the organisational work,” he said.
“Only hard work is not enough, timely concrete strategy and direction are necessary. There is a need to give a chance to new strength, there is also a need to nurture local and new leadership,” he said.
Mr Kharge said the Congress has the power of ideology, the legacy of Gandhi-Nehru and the heritage of great heroes. “We will return from Belagavi with a new message and new resolution. That is why we named this meeting is named ‘Nav Satyagraha’ because today even those who hold a constitutional post, are questioning Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha,” he said.
Mrs Gandhi in her message said Mahatma Gandhi becoming Congress president was a turning point for the party and for the Independence movement. “It was a transformational milestone in our country’s history. Today, we rededicate ourselves to preserve, protect and promote the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. He has been and will continue to be the fundamental source of our inspiration,” she said.
“It was he who moulded and guided all our remarkable galaxy of leaders of that generation. His legacy is under threat from those in power in New Delhi and the ideologies and institutions that have nurtured them,” she said. These organisations never fought for our freedom. They opposed Mahatma Gandhi bitterly. They created a toxic atmosphere that led to his assassination. They glorify his killers,” Sonia Gandhi said.
The former Congress president said Gandhian institutions in various places across the nation were are under assault. “It is now our sacred duty to renew our resolve to confront these forces with all the might at our command and with uncompromising determination,” she said.
