WHY CONGRESS AGAIN? There
are many reasons why the Congress remains unique among all
political parties in India.
The
Congress is the only all-India party in the country, the only
national political force with a presence in each and every region
of this vast country. Whether in power or out, the Congress
is a visible and tangible political force in villages, towns
and cities all across India.
The
Congress is the only political party that derives its strength
and support from, and appeals to, each and every section of
our variegated society. It is the only political party that
has provided for reservations in its organization for scheduled
castes, scheduled tribes, OBCs minorities and women.
The
Congress is the only party whose philosophy on governance
is rooted in democratic values, combining sustainable economic
growth with social justice, and marrying economic liberalization
to social liberalism. The Congress way is the way of dialogue,
not discord. The Congress way is the way of accommodation,
not acrimony.
The
Congress is the only party whose philosophy of governance
is based on a strong centre working purposefully with strong
states and with empowered local self-government institutions.
Rajniti Se Lok Niti, Gram Sabha Se Lok Sabha remains its objective.
The
Congress has always been a party of youth. It respects age
and seniority but youthful energy and dynamism has always
been its hallmark. In 1989, it was Rajiv Gandhi who reduced
the voting age to 18. It was Rajiv Gandhi who declared Swami
Vivekanandas birth anniversary on January 12th as National
Youth Day. It was also he who expanded the network of Nehru
Yuvak Kendras to cover all the districts of the country.
The
Congress has always been more a broad national movement than
a mere political party in the conventional sense of the term.
For 118 years, it has provided an unusually broad platform
for people from diverse social backgrounds to come together
in the service of the country. The Congress embodies the idea
of India like no other party does.
For
the Congress, Indian nationalism is all-inclusive and cosmopolitan,
a nationalism that draws creatively from every facet of India’s
rich and variegated heritage, a nationalism that is not narrow
or bigoted but celebrates the contribution made to our composite
culture by each of the religions of the land. It is a nationalism
that has an equal and dignified place for everything Indian
and for each and every Indian. It is a nationalism that integrates
India emotionally. The BJP’s “cultural nationalism is a device
for dividing Indians emotionally. The Congress unites the
Indian nation through consensus; the BJP divides the Indian
nation through confrontation.
The
Congress is deeply concerned that secularism has come under
the most severe and sustained assault in the past few years.
For the Congress, secularism means full freedom and respect
for all religions. It means equal opportunities for followers
of all religions and no discrimination on the grounds of religion.
Most of all, it means firm opposition to communalism of all
kinds.
The
misuse of any religion to spread hate and discord in our society
is communalism. The misuse of religion to incite popular passions
to ignite mutual antagonisms is communalism. Most Indians
are religious. At the same time, most Indians are respectful
of other faiths. Most Indians want to live with all other
Indians, whatever their religion, in harmony and goodwill.
But a handful of Indians have become self-appointed guardians
of their own faiths. It is they who seek to destroy social
peace. It is they who want us to be prisoners of a distorted
past, invented and misinterpreted by them to stoke envy and
jealousy and hatred between communities.
This
is the real battleground for secularism. It is more than a
majority-minority issue. It is actually a struggle between
those who wish to preserve the essence of all religions and
those who seek to deliberately distort that essence to undermine
our composite nationhood for unacceptable ideological reasons
and partisan electoral ends.
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