The Congress Working Committee (CWC), which met here on Tuesday, has decided to take on the Narendra Modi government by holding nationwide protests on issues such as the land acquisition ordinance and price rise.
The party hopes that after the ongoing organisational polls, it can address both political and intra-party challenges confronted by it in the recent past.
There was no discussion on anointing party vice-president Rahul Gandhi as the next president.
“Such decisions are not taken in a working committee meeting,” a senior leader told
Congress president Sonia Gandhi was all praise for Rahul’s efforts to meet state and Central leaders to assess the reason for the massive defeat in the Lok Sabha polls.
She asked CWC members to propose ways to reach out to the masses and make the Modi government “answerable and accountable”. “The Congress has a historical obligation to renew, reinvigorate, revive itself. This is as much true of the organisation as of individuals,” she said.
The party is planning to attack the Centre over the recent ordinances, particularly to amend the Land Acquisition Act.
The UPA government had seen an ordinance as a provision of last resort, Sonia said. “On the contrary, today's government is operating through a perilous notion that ordinances constitute ‘good governance’.
“We have to communicate effectively that the Modi government is not serving national interest by bypassing parliamentary scrutiny and debate. We need to question the extraordinary urgency to introduce some of these ordinances,” she said.
Backdoor entry Former Union ministers Jairam Ramesh and KV Thomas briefed the CWC about the Land Acquisition Act and the minimum support price (MSP) rise for agriculture produces, respectively.
“The Land Acquisition Act came into effect after wide ranging talks and consultations. This government has effectively destroyed this landmark legislation and brought back the law passed by the British in 1894 through the backdoor,” Sonia said.
She also criticised the ordinance on coal mines. “It is not just the dictatorial tendencies of the government which are of concern for us all, but also its anti-farmer and anti-poor policies. While the Prime Minister makes much of lowering inflation, he doesn't mention how he has lowered the income of farmers.
“His government has increased the MSP of select crops only by 3 per cent. The MSP of certain crops such as cotton has now gone below the cultivation price, causing several farmers to commit suicide,” she said.
Diluting policies The party alleged that the government is diluting welfare policies such as NREGA, Food Security Act, Forest Rights Act and Self Help Groups.
“What is equally if not more alarming is that in the last few weeks, the true colours and intentions of the PM and the BJP have become abundantly clear. Influential members of the government and the party have been making provocative statements and speeches.
“This is, in many ways, a continuation of the strategy of polarisation adopted by them in the Lok Sabha elections as well as in Assembly polls,” she said.