Step up political fight against RSS, BJP: Congress asks district presidents of 13 states, 3 UTs

New Delhi: Congress has asked the district presidents of 13 states and 3 union territories to step up the political fight against RSS and BJP. Telangana state district presidents also participated in the meeting, which was organised by party high command in New Delhi. The meeting was called before the All India Congress Committee session in Gujarat on April 8 and 9.

District Presidents are generals

Emphasising the importance of the role of District Presidents, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge told them: “You are not just our messengers, but the generals of the Congress Party, leading from the front on the ground”.

Referring to the challenges faced by the country, Kharge observed, the economy was in shambles. “The rich are getting richer while the poor become poorer. Unemployment is at an all-time high. Skyrocketing inflation has resulted in the lowest household savings in decades”, he pointed out, while adding, “attacks on the poor, marginalised communities, women, and weaker sections of society are increasing”.

Kharge reiterated the party’s demand for a caste census to restore social justice in the country.

People's issues

Asserting that the Congress’ fight was much larger, he stressed upon the District Presidents to ensure that the discourse remains centred on people’s issues. “The BJP will try to distract, but you and your teams must bring the focus back to real concerns”, he stressed upon the district presidents.

Upcoming elections

Spelling out the priorities, he said, in next year elections will be held in Assam, Kerala, Puducherry, and Tamil Nadu and it is the responsibility of DCC presidents to ensure victory for every candidate in their respective districts.

Foundation of the party says Rahul Gandhi

Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, also addressed the District Congress Presidents’ meeting. He emphasised their role as the foundation of the Congress Party. He said without them, the party cannot thrive, cannot succeed. Our fight is not just against the RSS-BJP—it is for an India where every citizen, every community, has the right to dream and achieve, he added. "Together, we will build a stronger Congress and a fairer India," he said.

Save the Constitution campaign

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said, "Party's battle against RSS and BJP will continue. The united fight against RSS -BJP has prevented the BJP from absolute majority in the 2024 General Elections and saved the constitution. They were bent on changing the constitution of India."

Maintaining that in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections, INDIA parties fought unitedly against the BJP alliance, restricting them to 240 seats, he said, “our ‘Save Constitution’ campaign exposed BJP-RSS’ secret desire to change the Constitution”.

Halt assault on independent institutions

Kharge said, “While the Congress secured almost 100 seats, if we had worked harder, we could have gained 20-30 more seats and a gain of such seats could have led to the formation of an alternative government in the country”.

“Had we achieved this, we could have halted the systematic assault on our independent institutions, democracy, and the Constitution”, he remarked.

Voter list management

He further said, "There is a strong need for voter list management. IT is important to work at the booth level and identify the voters."

Congress has asked the Election Commission of India to give them the photographs and the details of the voters in Maharashtra but there is no response from them, said Kharge.

"You must have noticed the increasing discrepancies in voter lists, particularly in Maharashtra”, he told them, while adding, in West Bengal, the ECI itself admitted that Unique Voter IDs were not unique as the same Voter ID number had been issued to different individuals in different states.

Foreign policy

The Congress president criticised the government for its failure over foreign policy, pointing out, “the countries like the USA are not only insulting our citizens, but also embarrassing us by imposing counter-tariffs”.

Communal disharmony

He alleged that the BJP governments at the Centre and in the states remain focused on creating communal disharmony to divert public attention. These communal issues are deliberately manufactured in the media to benefit the BJP rather than the people, he added.