In the first plenary session after him taking control of the Indian National Congress, Congress president Rahul Gandhi addressed the 132-year-old party and the delegates who attended the plenary session after the historic fall of the Congress party.
The plenary session was called just before elections in five states. Karnataka and Mizoram are currently held by Congress, while BJP has Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan. At this stage, Congress can not afford to lose, and it will be a big challenge for the young president to collaborate and seek a big victory to find hope for the upcoming 2019 lok sabha polls.
In his 48-minute speech, Gandhi covered all the burning topics engulfing India, and the loss of the faith that the people of India put in PM Modi when they voted overwhelmingly in the favour of BJP, giving them control of the country in 2014.
Through the story of the Kauravas and the Pandavas, he accused BJP of being a party of lies and recalled the promises made by PM Modi at the time of the 2014 lok sabha campaign. He alluded to black money, unemployment, and the ₹15 lakh promised to every poor person by the Modi government. Gandhi accused the RSS of interfering in the government body when four judges of the Supreme Court called for the press conference of the decade.
Pointing at the gigantic loss in the Rafale deal, the unexplained earnings of BJP president Amit Shah’s son, and initiatives like Yoga Abhiyan and Swacch Bharat Abhiyan, Gandhi asserted that diverting the attention of the nation from important issues and ‘jumlebaji‘ politics will not be tolerated by the people of India – and especially the future of India, the youth.
A clear message has been delivered by the young president – that his first work as the president of Congress will be to promote and provide opportunities to the youth and the new leaders who are about to join Congress. This, he claimed, would be the first deewar (wall) to break as president. Gandhi also clearly indicated that the experienced leaders treated with respect, and will always be asked to collaborate on important decisions and situations.
Connecting directly with the youth leaders, Gandhi said that Congress will break the wall between the youth and the system through non-violence by following the Congress vichardhara (guidelines).
Gandhi’s message in this situation states that the youth will have to be promoted, and for that compromises would have to be made, in order to bring sushashan (good governance) to Congress and to India.
After all this, the big questions that arise are: will the party be able to overcome the problems that led them to losses in the polls, and will the party work with discipline to resolve the major issues? Gandhi cited the Gujarat elections, and the Congress’ performance, as an indication of the change that is about to come.