NEW DELHI, 29 December 2002 — Not willing to be checkmated by her party’s Gujarat debacle and the related hype raised by the ruling party, Congress leader Sonia Gandhi pronounced the party’s readiness to face future electoral challenges.
“I am disappointed, but not worried at all. We are ready to face future challenges,” Gandhi told reporters here after a function marking the party’s foundation day.
The ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) secured a two-thirds majority in the 182-member Gujarat Assembly in the recent state elections, while the Congress won only 51 seats.
Gandhi spoke to reporters briefly after unfurling the party flag and taking salute from the Seva Dal volunteers. Also present were senior Congress leaders Manmohan Singh, Motilal Vora and Ahmed Patel.
Founded on Dec. 28, 1885, the Congress is India’s oldest political organization.
At a similar function in Calcutta, senior Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee said BJP’s call to replicate the Gujarat experiment elsewhere in the country would be dealt with strong measures in Congress-ruled states.
“Our governments will not sit idle if the BJP tries to implement the Modi line, as it can lead to communal riots. The administration in Congress-ruled states will take action if the saffron party tries to whip up communal passions in the name of the Gujarat experiment,” Mukherjee said.
“The culture of the country cannot be hijacked by the BJP in the name of cultural nationalism,” he added.
Accusing the BJP of shaking the nation’s secular fabric by trying to divide the country on communal and caste lines, he said, “The Congress has never compromised on national interest and would do everything to safeguard it.”
Meanwhile, taking cue from the BJP’s strategy of playing upon its Gujarat success, Congress has begun exploiting its success in Jammu and Kashmir, where the BJP secured only one seat, with a renewed vigor. Besides, the Congress aims to propagate its “secular card” by targeting BJP’s communal agenda with a greater aggressiveness than it did during the Gujarat polls.
The Congress announced the constitution of a co-ordination committee to monitor the implementation of the Common Minimum Program of the J&K coalition government.
Party general secretary Oscar Fernandes announced yesterday that Gandhi has constituted the co-ordination committee, comprising representatives of various parties in the state government. Coalition partners in the J&K government had agreed on Oct. 26 to set up the committee to monitor implementation of the common program.
