At CWC meet, Mallikarjun Kharge vows to fight BJP on ideology, Ambedkar

NEW DELHI: Changing the country’s Constitution has been an “old project” of the Bharatiya Janata Party-Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh combine that has also criticised the tricolour, Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Dr BR Ambedkar, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said on Thursday, unveiling the party’s plans to scale up its offensive against the ruling dispensation.

Addressiing the meeting of the Congress Working Committee in Karnataka’s Belagavi, Kharge also announced a major organisational revamp, termed 2025 as “the year of our organisation’s empowerment” and declared that the party will “fully implement” the key tasks of the Udaipur Declaration.

“We will equip our organisation with the necessary skills to win elections,” he said, pointing out that “only hard work is not enough” and “time-bound solid strategy and direction” was crucial.

The CWC meeting at Belagavi, which marks 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi assuming presidency of the party, turned into a launchpad of the Congress’ new ideological battle against the BJP and the grand old party to reinvent itself as a election winning organisation. Both pose major obstacles for the Congress that has faced a series of electoral losses in the past ten years even as the Narendra Modi-led BJP managed to appropriate the legacy of founding fathers and ideological heroes of India including Sardar Patel and Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose.

“When the Prime Minister was elected to the Parliament for the first time, he bowed his head on the steps of the old Parliament, after which the new Parliament was built. We are afraid that this time before taking oath in the new Parliament House, he bowed his head in front of the Constitution! We know, this is their old project. They have criticised the Constitution, the tricolor, Gandhi, Nehru, Ambedkar, opposed everyone. They have burnt effigies of everyone,” Kharge said.

Pointing to Union home minister Amit Shah’s recent statement on Ambedkar in the Rajya Sabha, Kharge said, “We heard the home minister’s extremely insulting statement about Dr. Baba Saheb Ambedkar during the discussion on the Constitution in the Parliament session. We objected, protested, demonstrated. Now protests are taking place all over the country.”

“But the Prime Minister and the government are not ready to accept their mistake. Far from seeking an apology and resignation from Amit Shah, they supported the objectionable statement. The prime minister issued a statement in defence of the home minister. A false case was registered against Rahul Gandhi. This is the attitude of today’s rulers towards the Constitution and its creator. But we are neither going to be afraid of anyone nor are we going to bow down. We will fight till the end for the ideology of Nehru-Gandhi and the respect of Baba Saheb,” the Congress president said.

Kharge also countered the BJP that has been accusing the Congress of disrespecting Ambedkar.

“BJP people falsely accuse us of not respecting” Ambedkar but “the statue of Baba Saheb in the Parliament was installed by Congress in 1967. Accepting the demand of thousands of workers like me, during Indira ji’s tenure, President Dr S Radhakrishnan ji installed the first big statue of Baba Saheb at the main place in the Parliament. That is why I say that BJP-RSS people should stop lying.”

Kharge for backed the idea of launching a new “Satyagraha” across India against the BJP and the RSS. “Today His Excellency, who holds a constitutional post, is also questioning Mahatma Gandhi’s Satyagraha. Those who have taken oath on the Constitution are the ones who are spreading lies. Those who are in power accuse us by resorting to falsehood. We have to expose and defeat such people,” he said.

As the Congress reels under a string of poll losses and unable to retain the gains of the Lok Sabha election in states such as Maharashtra and Haryana, Kharge also stressed on an organisational revamp.

“We will fill all the vacant posts in the organisation. We will fully implement the Udaipur Declaration. We will equip our organisation with the necessary skills to win elections from AICC to Mandal and booth. We will have to find such people who are ideologically committed. Who are ready to fight to protect the Constitution. Those who believe in the Congress Party’s Idea of India. Such people have to be connected to the party. They have to be brought into the mainstream. They have to be involved in the organisation’s work,” he said.

“Only hard work is not enough, time-bound solid strategy and direction is necessary. There is a need to give a chance to new power. There is also a need to bring up local and new leadership. We have the power of ideas, the legacy of Gandhi-Nehru and the heritage of great heroes. We will return from Belgaum with a new message and new resolution,” he added.

A Congress leader said the party would push for more young leaders in crucial roles and put a premium on the ideological commitment. “The emphasis on fulfilling the Udaipur Declaration is important as many key tasks, including creating a dedicated election management cell, are pending,” said a Congress leader.