Set aside your egos, pep up the party, says Sonia

Indicating that the Congress is comfortable with the coalition arrangement and wants to connect with civil society, which has been agitating over land, forests, water, livelihoods, tribal and gender issues, party chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday said, “We cannot allow our growing educated and middle-classes to be disillusioned and alienated from the political process.”

Asking state party units in her opening address at the Congress’ two-day ‘Chintan Shivir’ to respect alliances without compromising the rejuvenation of the

Party leaders demanded that Rahul Gandhi be projected as the prime ministerial candidate

party, Mrs Gandhi wanted party workers to proactively take up a host of issues. “We see various protest movements across the country relating to land, forests, water and livelihoods, tribal and gender issues. Our party must proactively take up these issues,” she said.

“In states in which we are in alliance, we have to stri- ke a balance between respecting these alliances and ensuring that the party’s rejuvenation is not compromised,” she said. This was perhaps her first comment on the subject after Trinamul quit the Centre and the UPA a few months ago.

While noting that infighting has been the main hurdle to the party’s revival, she said unity will come not from pious declarations of intent. “In states where we are out of power especially, we should be coming together, setting aside personal ambition and egos and working cohesively,” she said.

Congress supremo Sonia Gandhi, who made history by defeating the NDA twice and running a Congress-led coalition at the Centre, conceded that the party’s support base has been eroded.

“While we continue to be the nation's pre-eminent political party, we must admit that we now face increased competition and inroads have been made into our traditional support bases.”

Without mentioning Andhra Pradesh, where the Congress is facing stiff challenge from regional parties, she said “(We) are facing serious challenges in states long considered our bastions.”