Maharashtra nucleus of Congress, strengthen party here: RaGa

Mumbai: Referring to the foundation day of the Indian National Congress on December 28, 1885, in Bombay, party leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said that Maharashtra is the nucleus of Congress and appealed to party workers to strengthen the organisation in the state.

He also remarked that if the powerful British empire in India failed to finish off Congress, then how would prime minister Narendra Modi do it in this era?

Congress was founded at Gokuldas Tejpal Sanskrit College in Bombay, with 72 delegates in attendance.

Gandhi, who was in Mumbai for two days to attend the INDIA coalition meeting, visited Tilak Bhavan, headquarters of Maharashtra Congress in central Mumbai, on Friday evening. State Congress leaders felicitated him for “emerging victorious in the disqualification case.”

While slamming Modi’s slogan of ‘Congress Mukt Bharat’, Gandhi said, “The British, who were the superpower of that time, could not finish Congress, then how can PM Modi do it? Congress defeated the British and was thrown out of India,” he said, adding that Maharashtra is the nucleus of the Congress.

“The Congress party started here, and it needs to be strengthened here,” he remarked. “Some people say Congress does not have guts. Then who showed the ground to the BJP in Karnataka? It is the only Congress in Maharashtra which has not split. The reason behind it is the party’s ideology. Congress party workers in Maharashtra are like tigers and tigresses. They do not fear anyone, and that’s why RSS-BJP is scared of Congress.”

He added that PM Modi aims to win elections and defeat Congress with the help of Adani’s money and misusing the institutions. “But that will not happen. What happened in Karnataka will be repeated in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Telangana and even in Maharashtra. In the Lok Sabha elections, INDIA alliance will defeat the BJP,” Gandhi said.

Taking a potshot at Adani Group getting the Dharavi Redevelopment Project, Gandhi remarked, “Adani wants every big project. Now, they have taken the Dharavi project. It seems they do not understand the Dharavi. Now Congress will explain to them what Dharavi is.”

He also criticised the RSS-BJP culture of hatred and said that their party can never agree to hate policy as they believe in humanity and love for each other.