Cong positions party as BJP's polar opposite

The Congress today conceded in its political resolution that coalition politics was the order of the day but asked its workers not to stop dreaming of a bigger political space.

The resolution adopted at the plenary session of the All India Congress Committee did firmly rule out regionalism, while addressing itself to the “sense of alienation” that might be felt by the people of a region.

In this, it addressed those delegates who appeared at the plenary session wearing scarves that said ‘We want Telangana’, as well as pleas by speakers from the Congress unit in Tamil Nadu, who wanted a chance to bring back Kamaraj rule (rule of the Congress) there.

The central theme in the political resolution was a political attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party -- for, it said, the disruption of the last Parliament session, for criticisng and attacking the institution of the Prime Minister, for corruption in the Kargil scam, plunder of national resources by the chief minister of Karnataka and calls to MLAs to cross the floor, making a mockery of the anti-defection law.

The resolution also said:“The role of religious fundamentalist organisations in challenging the security of the nation can no longer be ignored. The Indian National Congress calls upon the government to tackle this menace in the strongest possible manner and investigate links between terrorists and the RSS and its sister organisations, that have been uncovered in some recent cases.”

This issue had been flagged by Rahul Gandhi and the party decided to adopt it in the resolution.

The BJP was also charged with using the rhetoric of economic progress and ‘pseudo nationalism’. Still smarting from its defeat in Gujarat, the party criticised the role of the state government in the “unforgiveable genocide” that occurred in large parts of the state in 2002. It claimed credit for a comprehensive Prevention of Communal Violence Bill to punish perpetrators.

The political resolution said the UPA government had ushered in a rights revolution in the country: the constitutional right to self-government, the right to information, work, forest dwellers’ rights, right to education and,soon to come, the right to food security. It patted itself on the back for translating principles of social justice into justiciable rights.

Interestingly, the party chose to walk the middle of the road on job reservation. While conceding the government and the private sector needed to share the responsibility of empowerment of the disadvantaged, the party said, “Social equity and equality of opportunity cannot be achieved by the bare minimum required under a compulsory reservation or a quota but, rather, by a radical shift in the mindset of our institutions in the public and corporate sectors.”