Rahul takes charge of Cong, hits out at Modi
‘MEDIEVAL TIMES’ Says people being butchered because of who they are, beaten for what they believe in and killed for what they eat
NEW DELHI: The verdict to the assembly elections in Gujarat and Himachal Pradesh are not due until Monday, but irrespective of the verdict, celebrations came early at the Indian National Congress’ HQ in Delhi’s Lutyens’ area with Rahul Gandhi taking over as the party’s president on Saturday.
Gandhi, 47, for long the heirin-waiting, took over from his mother Sonia Gandhi, 71, who has been the party’s head for 19 years. He was elected unopposed to the position.
Soon after taking over, he delivered a 13-minute speech, partly in Hindi and partly in English, and with the mixture of aggression and reconciliation that has become his style through a gruelling campaign in Gujarat.
The Bharatiya Janata Party, which has ruled the state for 22 years, is confident of bettering its tally of 115 from the 2012 elections. Opinion polls predict the BJP will win the state, although many of them say the Congress will improve its tally of 61 from 2012. The Congress itself is confident of doing so. All opinion polls and experts expect the BJP to win Himachal easily.
In some ways, the Congress’ performance in Gujarat will set the tone for Gandhi’s stint as the party chief. He was the face of the party in the 2014 parliamentary elections that it lost badly.
Since then, it has performed poorly in most state elections, and, when it has had the chance to form the government, been too slow to cobble together a postpoll alliance.
On Saturday, soon after taking over the reins of the 132-year old party, and cheered on by an audience of a few hundred supporters including his mother, his sister Priyanka Gandhi, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, and senior leaders, he accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of is taking the country “back to the medieval times”.
NEW DELHI: Outgoing Congress president Sonia Gandhi, in her farewell speech, asked party leaders and workers to introspect and be ready to offer any sacrifice to protect the country’s democratic values. 71-year-old Sonia Gandhi stepped down as the Congress president on Saturday after remaining at the helm for more than 19 years since 1998.
“Congress must look within to forge ahead. If we do not stand by our principles, we will not be able to defend the rights of the common people. It is a battle of righteousness, and to win this fight we must correct ourselves and be ready to offer any sacrifice,” she said in her nearly 15-minute speech in Hindi.
Handing over the reins of the 132-year-old party to Rahul, she kept up her attack on the BJP government. “Never before have we faced the challenge that we face today. The fundamentals of our Constitution are under attack,” Sonia said. “Our party has lost several state elections. But an exemplary energy fires our Congress workers. We are not ones to bend in fear because our struggle is a fight for the very soul of this nation. We will never retreat from this fight.”
Congratulating Rahul on his elevation, Sonia said she was proud of his endurance and firmness and expressed confidence that he will lead the party with a “pure heart”, patience and devotion. “From his very childhood, he has borne the experience of violence, the savage personal attacks he has confronted since entering politics has served to make him a brave and stouthearted man.”
Sonia’s speech was marked by nostalgia as she recalled her association with her mother-in-law and former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and also talked about the time when she was reluctant to join politics following the assassination of her husband Rajiv Gandhi.For his part, former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh hoped that new Congress president Rahul Gandhi will sustain the “politics of hope” which is needed by the country and not allow the “politics of fear” to take over. He also claimed that “certain disturbing trends are noticeable” in the country’s polity and the people depend on Rahul to transform it.
“As a distinguished academician pointed out a few days ago, there are dangers that the ‘politics of fear’ will take over from the politics of hope,” he said in an apparent reference to the BJP.
“Rahul ji, we depend upon you to transform that area that fear of politics will transform, to sustain the politics of hope, which this country needs,” he said in his brief address.
Singh praised Sonia for the “powerful and magnificent” leadership provided by her to the Congress party that will go down in the annals of its history. “May your path be blessed,” Singh concluded his speech wishing good luck to Rahul.