NEW DELHI:
The Congress will work with like-minded parties to defeat the BJP in 2019 Lok Sabha elections so that India could return to a democratic, inclusive, secular, and economically progressive path, senior party leader and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi said on Thursday.
Accusing the government of trying to polarise society, she said, “Violence against minorities, Dalits was not sporadic but orchestrated to polarise society for narrow political gains.” Speaking at the Congress parliamentary party meet, Gandhi accused the government of failing to deliver. The Modi government indulged in “maximum publicity, minimum government” and maximum marketing and minimum delivery”.
The Congress leader’s all-out attack came a day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore through the opposition party in Parliament. The four years the Modi government has been in power, institutions such as Parliament, judiciary, media and civil society had come under systematic assault, she said.
“Investigative agencies have been let loose against political opponents,” Gandhi said. She also hailed the party’s performance in recent elections and said they were signs of change.
“We performed very creditably under tough circumstances in Gujarat and recent byelection results in Rajasthan were huge,” she said. “This shows winds of change are coming. I am sure Karnataka too will underline resurgence of Congress.”
The southern state, one of the few where the Congress is in power, is due for elections later this year.
“We have a new Congress president and on your behalf and my own I wish him all the best. He is now my boss too. Let there be no doubt about that,” Gandhi said of her son Rahul, who took over as the Congress chief on December 16 from her. Sonia Gandhi served as the Congress chief for a record 19 years.
