Cong looks at Nehru to revive fortunes

New Delhi: The Congress party is looking at the 125th birth anniversary of Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru to revive its sagging fortunes. In a moving emotional speech, the party president Sonia Gandhi called upon its workers to transform themselves in to brave secular soldiers and protect the soul of India against all onslaughts by communal ideologies.

Speaking on the historic occasion that falls on Friday, Sonia said that the attack by divisive forces is not limited to demolishing Nehru’s personality.” These forces want to destroy his ideology, vision, and a lifetime of his struggle, contributions and sacrifices to the making of modern India,”she said.

She urged the party workers to unite and strengthen the organisation and get back to the task of building their links with the people. ”We must listen to their voice, make a connect with their aspirations, discover their pains and pleasures, and share their joys and sorrows,” she observed.

Rahul Gandhi hit out at the Narendra Modi govt for merely using photo-ops like the Swachh Bharat Abhiyan while spreading poison. On one hand houses are being painted and roads are being cleaned. Photo opportunities are happening. Pictures are being taken. On the other hand, poison is being spread," he said.

Rahul who is the midst of a major organisational overhaul concede that things have gone wrong in the past."I am not saying the Congress has not made mistakes. We have made mistakes, but our heart and ideology are in the right place," he observed.

But he strongly targeted the negative approach of the ruling BJP without naming the party or its leader and prime minister Narendra Modi by charging that they are being driven by hatred and anger. He recalled that Pandit Nehru did not agree to throw out the English language after the end of the British colonial rule. "After the British left, leaders like Nehru did not allow English to go away. Nehru said we must be connected to the world...the British have left but we must draw benefits from their language. If we had removed English, then there would be no IIT, no I-T. Our people would not have achieved so much in the US," he said.