Cong announces campaign against 'attack on Constitution' price rise vows major organisational overhaul

    Belagavi (Karnataka), Dec 26 (PTI) The Congress on Thursday decided to undertake a major organisational overhaul based on leaders' accountability and for nurturing new leadership, while also announcing a 13-month-long campaign to take the issues of B R Ambedkar's "insult" and alleged attack on Constitution to every corner of the country.
     The year-long 'Samvidhan Bachao Rashtriya Pad Yatra' will be held from January 26, 2025 to January 26, 2026 during which issues such as "Adani, attack on Constitution, growing inequalities and price rise", among others, will be raised.
    These decisions were taken at the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting -- 'Nav Satyagraha Baithak' -- to mark 100 years of Mahatma Gandhi assuming the presidency of the party at the Belgaum session.
    Two resolutions were passed by the CWC -- one on Mahatma Gandhi and the other a political one.
    Alleging that the Constitution faces its "gravest threat yet", the Congress said Home Minister Amit Shah's "denigration" of B R Ambedkar in Parliament is the latest instance of the RSS-BJP's decades-long project to undermine the Constitution.
    In its political resolution, the CWC reiterated the demand for the home minister's resignation as well as an apology to the nation from him.
    Kharge, in his opening remarks at the meeting, said Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the government are not ready to accept the mistake Shah made with his "extremely insulting" remarks about Ambedkar and asserted that the party will fight for the respect of the architect of the Constitution.
    Kharge also alleged that constitutional institutions are being controlled and cited the example of the Election Commission.
    "The matter of concern is that people's faith in the electoral process is gradually decreasing because questions are being raised on the impartiality of the Commission. A few days ago, they changed the election rules so that the information that the court had ordered to be shared could be stopped. What is it that they are trying to hide?" he said.
    "Sometimes the names of voters are deleted from the list, sometimes they are prevented from casting their vote, sometimes there is a sudden increase in the number of voters in the list, sometimes at the last moment of voting, the vote percentage increases unexpectedly. These are some questions that keep arising for which no satisfactory answer is found," Kharge said.
    Raising the issue of Shah's remarks on Ambedkar in Rajya Sabha earlier this month, he said the statement was "extremely insulting to the maker of the Constitution.
    "We raised objections, protested, demonstrated. Now protests are taking place all over the country. But the prime minister and the government are not ready to accept their mistake. Far from seeking an apology and resignation from Amit Shah, they supported the objectionable statement," he said.
    The prime minister issued a statement in defence of the home Minister and a false case was filed against Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, he said.
    The Congress chief asserted that 2025 will be the year of the party's organisational empowerment.
    "We will fill all the vacant posts in the organisation. We will fully implement the Udaipur Declaration. We will equip our organisation with the skills required to win elections from AICC to Mandal and booth," he said.
    "We will have to find such people who are ideologically committed. Who are ready to fight to protect the Constitution. Those who believe in the Congress party's idea of India will have to be connected to the party. They will have to be brought into the mainstream. They will have to be involved in the organisational work," he said.
    Addressing reporters, Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said in the first phase, the 'Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan' campaign will start with a rally in Belagavi on December 27 and culminate with a rally on January 26, 2025, in Madhya Pradesh's Mhow where Ambedkar was born.
    During this month, rallies and marches will be organised in every block, district, and state as well.
    In the second phase, a year-long 'Samvidhan Bachao Rashtriya Pad Yatra' will be held from January 26, 2025 to January 26, 2026 during which issues such as "Adani, attack on Constitution, growing inequalities and price rise", among others, will be raised, Ramesh said.
    "We believe that Bharat Jodo Yatra gave 'Sanjeevani' to Congress and it was a turning point in Congress' politics. Then, Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatra happened and now, on 26 January 2025 - we will launch a year-long 'Samvidhan Bachao Rashtriya Pad Yatra'," he said.
    This Padayatra will be from village to village, township to township in the form of a relay.
    Finally, an AICC session will be held in Gujarat in the first half of April 2025.
    Addressing reporters along with Ramesh and AICC media and publicity department head Pawan Khera, Congress general secretary in-charge (organisation) K C Venugopal said 2025 is going to be a year of an organisation revamping programme at every level, from booth to the top.
    He said accountability and a thorough inquiry about the capability of the leadership will form the basis of a "massive revamp" of the organisation.
    The CWC said it is distressed by the "ongoing degradation" of democracy.
    "Institutions such as the judiciary, the Election Commission, and the media have been politicised through executive pressure. Parliament has been gutted, as shown by the unprecedented obstruction of its proceedings by the treasury benches in the recently-concluded Winter Session of 2024," the Congress said.
    The CWC alleged that the Constitution's federal structure continues to be under attack, most recently from the government's 'One Nation, One Election bill'.
    The CWC condemned the Centre's amendment to the Conduct of Election Rules 1961 undertaken on the recommendation of the Election Commission which restricts public access to crucial sections of poll documents.
    "This undermines the principles of transparency and accountability that form the cornerstone of free and fair elections. We have challenged these amendments in the Supreme Court," it said.
    The party alleged that the way elections have been conducted in Haryana and Maharashtra especially, have already eroded the integrity of the electoral process.
    The CWC also expressed deep concern by the "state-sponsored increase in communal and ethnic hatred, particularly targeted against minority communities".
    "Manipur, which has been burning since May 2023, continues to be met with indifference by the Prime Minister and his government. The Prime Minister has not visited this troubled state ever since violence erupted in May 2023," the resolution said.
    It claimed that the communal tension has deliberately been stoked in Sambhal and other places for the RSS-BJP's narrow political gain.
    "The Places of Worship Act, 1991 to which the Indian National Congress is firmly committed in letter and spirit has also come under needless and reckless debate," the resolution said.

(This story has not been edited by THE WEEK and is auto-generated from PTI)