Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Saturday told party leaders of Gujarat that he needs only 25 people to bring a storm in the state and uproot the BJP from power. Gandhi was addressing a 3-day brain-storming workshop of party leaders in Dwarka.
Before addressing the gathering, he worshiped Lord Dwarkadheesh. At the end of the workshop on Sunday, the party leaders will come out with an action plan for Assembly elections due in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Gandhi said that in fact he would need only five people and those five people would further need five people for the work to be done. The Congress leader said that the job of state Congress president Jagdish Thakor is to find these 25 people and give them all the support.
Gandhi said that according to him, the Congress had won the election but was not accepting it. “I know why this is so. Had I been against the BJP for 25 years, then my confidence would have also shattered. But I come from New Delhi,” he pointed out.
Gandhi exhorted the party leaders to go to the masses with a vision. “Masses will not give votes just like that,” he said, adding that the party should make clear the vision about youth, diamond industry, small and medium scale enterprises and other sectors. The masses should also be clear with the faces that would execute the vision, he pointed out.
The Congress leader said that the people of Gujarat are looking up to the party and so are the Gujaratis staying abroad. Take the support of the masses and the NRIs and go ahead, he said.
In an indirect attack on those who quit the Congress in the recent past, the former party president said that there are certain people who sit in air conditioned rooms as against those who work in the field for the party. In a lighter vein, he told the state leadership to send those sitting in the air conditioned rooms to the BJP.
Gandhi asked the party leaders not to accept defeat till the fight is over. He reminded that the last time when he came (2017), he was told that the election was tough but then the same set of leadership came and told him later on about the atmosphere that was building up. Eventually, we lost the elections by seven seats, he said.
The Congress leader dedicated a large portion of his address to how Mahatma Gandhi gave strategic direction to the Congress and others. “Gandhiji is my Guru and will continue to remain,” he said, adding that he has been given to the nation by Gujarat.
Pointing out to the image of Mahatma Gandhi at the venue, Gandhi said that truth is simple and does not require the CBI or the ED. He alleged that only two to three people run Gujarat and that Modi has broken the backbone of the MSMEs in the state. “Power is centralized,” he alleged.
Gandhi said that he loved people of Gujarat and the food of Gujarat. “I am just a call away,” he said.
