AICC PLENARY

Cong's resolution takes 'pragmatic' route, prioritises alliances

Congress plenary Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, Manmohan Singh, A.K. Antony and other Congress leaders raise hands to pass a resolution at the party's plenary session | Arvind Jain

In a clear indication that the Congress gives utmost importance to building an alliance to challenge Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the BJP in the next Lok Sabha elections, the party’s political resolution presented at its plenary session emphasises that it will work for cooperation with like-minded parties to defeat the BJP at the hustings.

“Congress will adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme to defeat the BJP-RSS in the 2019 elections,” the political resolution states.

With an eye on the coming election season, the Congress, in its political resolution, identifies farmers’ problems and unemployment as among the major fronts where the Modi government has failed. “Under the BJP regime, the people of India—farmers, Khet Mazdoors, workers in the unorganised sector, self-employed, manual labourers, dalits, minorities, traders, unemployed youth and the poor—have been betrayed,” it said.

Specifically referring to the youth, the document says that the plenary session indicts the BJP government for betraying the youth of India by not fulfiling its promise of creating two crore jobs every year. The government, it said, not only failed to create jobs but through its decisions, India lost millions of jobs in the MSME and informal sectors.

In the backdrop of the Congress’ ‘soft Hindutva’ approach in an effort to neutralise BJP’s focus on the majority population, the resolution seeks to distinguish Hinduism from Hindutva, the latter according to the Congress being a ‘political ideology’.

“The Indian tradition and the essence of Hinduism has been all encompassing, upholder of humane values and our composite culture. It is distinct and must not be confused with Hindutva, which is essentially a political ideology,” it said.

The party, in its resolution, condemned the “escalation of atrocities on dalits, Adivasis and minorities and the violent attacks on the poor who have raised their voice of protest in many parts of the country.”

The resolution accused the BJP and its associated organisations of assaulting the foundational principles of the Constitution, of threatening to tear apart the fabric of social unity and harmony and undermining the established norms of governance and subversion of educational, cultural and historical institutions, facilitating their capture by the BJP’s ideological affiliates.

It said that the prime minister and the BJP government, however, are “intolerant of any criticism and remain in arrogant denial.”

In the backdrop of opposition parties accusing the ruling dispensation of manipulating EVMs in elections, the party said that to ensure the credibility of the electoral process, the Election Commission should revert to the old practice of paper ballot, as most major democracies have done.

In tune with the party’s attempts to take on Modi and the ruling dispensation on the issue of corruption, especially over the PNB scam and alleged corruption in the purchase of Rafale fighter aircraft from France, the resolution said the country has seen scams, scandals and questionable transactions under the watch of the prime minister at the Centre and in BJP-ruled states.

“The BJP government lacks sincerity in fighting corruption, to ensure transparency and accountability. This is underscored by its non-appointment of Lokpal,” the resolution said.

The resolution, in the light of the party’s escalated campaign on the demand for special status for Andhra Pradesh, said that the Congress condemns the “neglect and injustice” to Andhra Pradesh by the BJP government and reiterates its commitment to the complete implementation of the PM’s assurances and the provisions of the AP Reorganisation Act and the Special Category Status to Andhra Pradesh.