Rahul to lead Lok Sabha campaign: Congress

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party's campaign in the 2014 Lok Sabha election, a party resolution said Friday.

Passed by the All India Congress Committee (AICC), the resolution said the party will fight the election on the core values of secularism, social justice and inclusive growth.

It also called for rooting out corruption.

The resolution noted that the Congress defeat in four states in November-December was a "wake up call".

"This meeting of the AICC declares that the Congress' Lok Sabha election (campaign) will be led by Rahul Gandhi."

It urged party workers to better connect with the people and said the party was confident of facing the challenges ahead.

"Congress ... will go the people in the Lok Sabha election on the basis of its core values of secularism, social justice and inclusive growth," said the resolution moved by Health Minister Ghulam Nabi Azad.

The economic and political resolution said the Lok Sabha battle will be a fight between two ideologies -- one that seeks to divide and the other which seeks to unite India.

One is a polarizing ideology that militates against the core values which define Indian nationhood and its constitutional democracy, the resolution said.

The other is a liberal secular democratic ideology represented by the Congress.

The party sought the support of all like-minded political and social forces to come together at this "critical juncture".

The party said that the UPA government had struck a defining blow to corruption through the Right To Information act in 2005.

"However, in our pursuit to root out corruption we have to be careful not to confuse disagreement on merit or even in honest mistakes with corruption. Not everything that we find wrong is necessarily corruption."

The resolution said several decisions of courts and constitutional authorities rejecting administrative and executive decisions have caused considerable damage to the economy.

It called upon political parties to enact six pending anti-corruption bills in parliament.

The resolution lauded the performance of the UPA government led by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

On reservation, the resolution said that while it was important to review the present model and to address issues of reservation in promotion, it was also time to look at other forms of affirmative action.