Congress President Rahul Gandhi with his mother and former party President Sonia Gandhi, alongside former PM Manmohan Singh at the AICC plenary session. (Express Photo by Praveen Khanna)
As Sonia Gandhi reminded party workers how the Congress had opened the door to alliances earlier to defeat the NDA, a political resolution adopted at the Congress’s 84th plenary session here on Saturday called for “a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties” and “a common workable programme” against the BJP in the 2019 elections.
Sonia, who stepped down as the Congress president in December last year, after leading the party for two decades, referred to the Shimla resolution of 2003 that had jettisoned the stand taken by the party in Panchmarhi, 1998, against coalitions. In the 2004 Lok Sabha polls that followed after that Shimla meet, the Congress-led UPA had dealt a shocking defeat to the BJP-led NDA.
The second day of the plenary session also sent out another clear change: of a generational shift at the top to mark Rahul Gandhi taking over the reins. The theme of the plenary is ‘Waqt hai badlav ka (It’s time for change)’.
In the presence of the high command, senior party leaders talked about infighting and how “it’s Congressmen who defeat the Congress”, while young leaders of the party shared the podium at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in Delhi.
In his brief inaugural address, Rahul also indicated that the new Congress Working Committee, the apex decision-making body of the party, would be a mix of young blood and elders. The Congress under him would take seniors and youth together as the tradition of the party was to embrace change without forgetting its past and legacy, he said. “If the youth will take the Congress forward, the party will not move forward without its experienced leaders. So my task is to unite the seniors and the youth, to give a new direction,” he said.
READ | Sonia Gandhi takes on PM Modi, rallies party behind Rahul Gandhi
The two resolutions — one political and the other on agriculture, employment and poverty alleviation — were moved by party veterans Mallikarjun Kharge and Punjab Chief Minister Captain Amarinder Singh. But a majority of the leaders who took the stage to endorse the resolutions were next-generation leaders. Kamal Nath, Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Ghulam Nabi Azad, Abhishek Singhvi and Shashi Tharoor were joined by younger leaders Rajeev Satav, Sachin Pilot, Indian Youth Congress president Amarinder Singh Raja, Jyotiraditya Scindia, Sushmita Dev, Paresh Dhanani (leader of opposition in the Gujarat Assembly) and Fairoz Khan (NSUI president), in speaking on the political resolution.
Congress President Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi and other leaders at the 82nd Plenary session of the Indian National Congress in New Delhi on Saturday. (Express Photo by Tashi Tobgyal)
The stage, which used to the fief of party seniors like Janardan Dwivedi, was also managed by young faces such as Javed Nadeem, Sushmita Dev and Ragini Nayak. Consequently, there was a departure from the usual arrangement of top leaders sitting on mattresses on a dais, to them occupying chairs in the first row, among the audience.
The day’s feature included a panel discussion on the changing landscape of the media, titled ‘The Power of Truth’, to engage the delegates gathered from across the country. It was moderated by journalist Kumar Ketkar, who is set to join the Rajya Sabha on a Congress ticket.
READ | Congress wants ballot papers back, rejects simultaneous polls
Senior leaders, including Kharge and Azad as well as Ajay Maken, called for unity among party leaders as well as workers. Moving the political resolution, Kharge said: “If the Congress party is defeated, it is only by Congressmen. Unless we are divided, unless we try to pull down each other, the Congress party cannot be defeated. We ourselves pull down those who want to become chief ministers or ministers. So, I appeal to you all, no matter how deep your differences are, please drop them for the nation, leave them for protecting the Constitution, for the good of the democracy, for the Dalits, exploited and women.”
Congress chief Rahul Gandhi. (Twitter)
Maken added: “If anything can stop us from taking (forward) this struggle, it is us… So we should be united in this struggle.”
The political resolution reflected Sonia’s stand on being open to coalitions, at a time when regional parties across the country have expressed the desire for a common platform of non-BJP, non-Congress parties, ahead of the next general elections. One such unusual alliance, between the SP and BSP, dealt the BJP a blow in the recent Uttar Pradesh bypolls.
The speeches, of both Sonia and Congress president Rahul Gandhi, as well as others who participated in the discussions, called for hard work and commitment from party workers to defeat the BJP.
Accusing the BJP-led government of spreading anger and dividing people, Rahul said the country was “fatigued” under it and his party alone could show the path. In his short address — he will be addressing the delegates at length on Sunday, the concluding day of the plenary — Rahul said, “What is the difference between the Congress party and the ruling party? The one big difference is they spread anger and hatred, we spread love and brotherhood.”
Referring to the Congress’s symbol of hand, he added, “The power of this ‘hand’ lies in you. If the country is to be united, it is we and the people who will have to do it together.”