From offering prayers at a temple to invoking Steve Jobs, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Monday tried all tricks to give fresh hope to his partymen.

The one-day conclave of Congress office bearers in Uttar Pradesh was held in Mathura on Monday with the aim of reviving the party, ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.

The conclave was organised on the auspicious Radha Ashtami Day, which was celebrated in the nearby Banke Bihari Temple in Vrindavan.

Before attending the programme, Rahul visited the temple and spent some time there. At a time when the BJP is attacking the Congress for “minority appeasement” and the former party is becoming a key player in Uttar Pradesh after a break, Rahul’s gestures are widely interpreted as an attempt to please the Hindu vote-bank.

A few days back, former minister and a key organiser of the conclave, Jitin Prasada, had demanded a relook at the backward castes reservation policy. His statement is also seen as the party’s attempt to reach out to the upper caste groups in the State.

All in the family The Congress vice-president urged the party workers to learn a lesson or two from former Apple CEO Steve Jobs.

“The party must work like Steve Jobs’ and be open to opinions and not just of some leaders. We allow people to have different ideologies, unlike the RSS,” he said.

He said, over the years, his opinion about the Congress has also changed. “Earlier I used to see myself as your leader, but now I have changed; I see you all as my family.

“A general can replace any soldier who is not doing well in his/her job, but as a family member, we have to say, ‘we can get this work done by someone else, but you can do some other job better’.

“If someone is not suited for a position, he takes another position best suited for him, as all are part of the family,” he said, citing the conversations he had had with his father, late Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

The Nehru scion added that the Congress is not like the RSS, which guides the government. “Every member’s voice is heard here unlike what happens under Mohan Bhagwat,” he said.

The Amethi MP said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is doing more damage to his own government than the Opposition put together. “Modi is damaging himself much more than what we can together inflict on him. We have to make our place. Modiji is bound to go down, but when he goes, we have to fill that space. You may keep on attacking Modi but Modi is attacking himself much more,” he said. “Modi promised good days to farmers. Now farmers are committing suicide,” he added.

Party ideology He said Modi and the RSS are strengthening the Congress. “Modi is the opposite of Congress. Modi keeps Congress in focus. When we look at their ideology, we start focussing on our own,” he said, urging the party leaders to spread “Congress ideology” in the State.

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