Cong calls for ‘freedom movement’ to oust Modi govt at Wardha rally
THE CWC CALLED UPON THE NATION TO FEARLESSLY DEFEND AND UPHOLD INDIA’S FOUNDATIONAL VALUES AND IDEA OF INDIA WHICH MAHATMA GANDHI STOOD FOR
SEVAGRAM (MAHARASHTRA): : From Mahadev Bhavan in Sevagram on Mahatma Gandhi’s 149th birth anniversary, the Congress Working Committee (CWC) on Tuesday gave a clarion call for a “second freedom struggle” against the Narendra Modi government to combat “divisive politics and the ideology of hate and violence”.
The venue was ripe with symbolism because Sevagram ashram was where the Congress had held deliberations for its ‘Quit India’ call against British rule in 1942.
A resolution adopted by the party’s highest decision-making body also accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) of “hypocrisy” for “trying to appropriate” the Mahatma’s legacy for electoral opportunities.
“The Modi government indulged in divisive politics and involved in spreading hate and violence”, a CWC resolution said, while vowing to thwart the BJP’S “disruptive” policies. “Such an atmosphere and similar reasons led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi,” it said.
The Congress Working Committee passed two resolutions, recalling the contribution of Mahatma Gandhi to the “Indian thought process, its soul and body”, and late Lal Bahadur Shastri ‘s call of ‘Jai Jawan Jai Kisan’, saying it was “not just a slogan but a way of life”.
Former prime minister Shastri’s birthday also falls on October 2.
The meeting was presided over by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and attended, among others, by United Progressive Alliance (UPA) chairperson Sonia Gandhi, former prime minister Manmohan Singh, leader of the Opposition in the Rajya sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad and Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge.
The CWC alleged that the RSS, which “vilified and rejected” Mahatma Gandhi during his lifetime, had today “brazenly proclaimed itself to champion his ideology”.
It said that appropriating the Mahatma’s legacy may be politically expedient for some, but imbibing his principles and values in thought, word and deed was impossible for those who see in the Mahatma only electoral opportunities.
“One may borrow the Mahatma’s spectacles for publicity campaigns, but implementing his vision will remain unfulfilled unless his principles are followed in complete essence. The Congress Working Committee resolves to expose the hollowness and doublespeak of the ideologies and organisations who have never believed in, let alone followed the Gandhian path of truth, tolerance, harmony and non-violence,” it said.
“Elections will come and go. But the ideological battle has to be relentless and unwavering. The Congress Working Committee rededicates the Indian National Congress to this sacred task.”