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/File)
During the 84th Congress Plenary session on Sunday, the party accused the BJP government of disrupting India’s foreign policy. “The Prime Minister’s tendency to disparage its predecessors and diminish India’s achievements since independence has undercut India’s own credibility abroad,” the resolution moved by Congress leader Anand Sharma read. “Never before in Independent India’s history, has the country been so diminished in its immediate periphery,” the party said while looking at India’s relations with Pakistan, China, Maldives, Sri Lanka among others.
Former prime minister Manmohan Singh and party chief Rahul Gandhi will address the workers next at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium in New Delhi. The session, which is a first since Gandhi’s elevation to the presidential post, is called ‘Change is now’ and is aimed at projecting young faces of the party at the forefront.
On Saturday, Sonia Gandhi launched a scathing attack against the Narendra Modi-led NDA government, calling it “arrogant”. Accusing the saffron party of dividing the nation along the lines of religion and caste, Rahul Gandhi said only his party can unite the country. During the conclave on Saturday, the party also passed two resolutions — one political and the other on agriculture, employment and poverty alleviation.
Read | Projecting younger face, Congress takes a step closer to alliances
https://www.scribd.com/document/374152409/Congress-Draft-on-Foreign-Policy
Calling the Pakistan policy of Modi govt a disaster, the Congress party said, "Confronting cross-border terrorism with a robust security response, has enjoyed across the board national consensus. Regrettably, this is being undermined by the Government by making policy towards Pakistan a divisive domestic issue. The claims of a more effective and assertive policy towards Pakistan are boastful, and have not yielded any positive results."
The PM is carried away by his own propaganda. Today it is a matter of concern that we have mismanaged our relations with major capitals of the world, with major strategic partners & our immediate neighborhood: Anand Sharma
Source: Twitter/INC
Consensus built over years on foreign policy has been disrupted. In the last four years they have made this a divisive policy. The BJP govt has pursued this in a cavalier manner, non-serious manner, says Congress leader Anand Sharma as he moves the international resolution of the party
In its financial resolution, the party it hit out at the Modi government for its “flawed” and “anti-farmer” policies that have caused an 'agrarian crisis' in the country. The party promised of doubling famer's income and a loan waiver scheme if voted to power. It also resolved to review the methodology used by the Commission for Agricultural Costs and Prices to determine minimum support price (MSP) and set up a permanent Kisan and Krishi Majdoor Welfare Ayog with constitutional status to oversee welfare of farmers and farm workers, guaranteeing them social security in old age. Read more
The political resolution moved by the party on Saturday called for re-introduction of paper ballots in the elections in order to “ensure the credibility of the electoral process.” In its resolution, the party said the BJP's move of simultaneous elections is “misplaced” and is “incompatible with the Constitution as also impractical”. Read more
The party is also scheduled to adopt economic and international resolution on its last day. Congress leader Anand Sharma will move the foreign affairs resolution and former finance minister P Chidambaram will move the economic resolution
During the inaugural address on Saturday, Rahul Gandhi 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.
Follow the live blog to track all the latest developments on the concluding day of 84th Plenary Session of the Congress.