Congress vows 'new freedom struggle' against Modi govt, attacks RSS

Launching a scathing attack on the BJP and the RSS, the Congress on Tuesday called for a "new freedom struggle" against what it called the Modi government's politics of "polarisation and intimidation", as it held a meeting of its apex decision-making body CWC at a venue where 'Quit India' resolution was adopted in 1942 under Mahatma Gandhi's leadership.

Holding its meeting at Sewagram Ashram's Mahadev Bhavan in Wardha district of Maharashtra on Mahatma Gandhi's 149th birth anniversary, the Congress Working Committee, headed by the party chief Rahul Gandhi, also condemned the use of force against protesting farmers on their way to the national capital.

The CWC had last met in Sevagram in March 1948 and before that under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi in 1942 to adopt the 'Quit India' resolution.

In a resolution adopted at the meeting, the Congress alleged the RSS had a "blatant hypocrisy" that vilified and rejected Mahatma Gandhi during his lifetime and it was now brazenly proclaiming itself to be his champion.

"It is its (RSS's) ideology that was responsible for spreading the atmosphere of hate that led to the Mahatma's tragic assassination," Congress chief spokesman Randeep Singh Surjewala said quoting the resolution.

Another resolution adopted at the meeting condemned the use of force on farmers on their protest march towards the national capital from all parts of the country on Tuesday.

The CWS meeting was presided over by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and was attended by UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi and former prime minister Manmohan Singh among other leaders.

The CWC resolution accused Modi government of "crushing debate and dissent" and "imposing artificial uniformity in a nation of extraordinary diversity".

Stating that a new freedom struggle is the urgent need of the hour, the resolution called for a massive movement to combat "the forces of divisiveness and prejudice, (and) to confront the Modi government whose politics is the politics of threat and intimidation, the politics of polarisation and divisiveness, the politics of crushing debate and dissent."