Ahmedabad, April 8 Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Tuesday claimed that a deliberate conspiracy was underway to distort the contributions of national heroes.
After opening the Extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Ahmedabad, Kharge said: "A false narrative was being built to pit Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel against each other, as if they were adversaries."
Asserting that the two leaders were two sides of the same coin, he recalled a speech by Patel delivered on March 7, 1937, at Gujarat Vidyapith, when Nehru was Congress President and the state's youth wanted him to campaign during provincial elections.
"Patel had said, 'The day Gujarat wins this electoral battle and proves its loyalty to the Congress, that day we shall welcome Congress President Nehru with pride'. This shows how deeply Patel believed in Nehru's leadership," Kharge noted.
He sharply criticised the current political environment, warning against "rising communal division" and "corporate control" over national resources.
"On one hand, efforts are being made to divert public attention from core issues by spreading communal hatred. On the other hand, oligarchic monopolies are capturing the country's resources and threatening to dominate governance," he said.
He credited Patel's leadership during the 1931 Karachi session for shaping the soul of the country's Constitution through the resolution on Fundamental Rights.
"For the past several years, efforts are being made to malign the Congress - a party with 140 years of history in nation-building and sacrifice - by those who have little to show in terms of their own achievements or contribution to the freedom movement," he said.
Invoking the legacies of Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and Dadabhai Naoroji - three iconic leaders born on Gujarat's soil who once led the Congress and helped shape India's political and moral foundations, Kharge said they not only led the Congress but illuminated its path.
"Gandhiji gave us the unshakable weapons of truth and non-violence to fight injustice, tools no power can withstand," Kharge stated.
In December 1924, Gandhi ji presided over the Congress Session in Belgaum, Karnataka - my home state. We celebrated this centenary with due reverence on December 26 last year."
With the national convention returning to Gujarat after 64 years- the last one held in Bhavnagar in 1961 - Kharge said it was only fitting that the party reflect on its ideological roots and historical role in shaping modern India.
Reminding the gathering of Gujarat's proud legacy of grassroots struggle, he said: "Just as Champaran Satyagraha under Gandhi ji’s leadership strengthened the Congress in rural India, the Bardoli Satyagraha and farmers’ movements led by Sardar Patel remain immortal in our history."
Kharge highlighted the upcoming 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel on October 31, calling him "the architect of India's unity", echoing Pandit Nehru’s description of Patel’s unifying role.
Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi and Congress leader Rahul Gandhi were also present on the occasion.
With over 3,000 delegates in attendance, including chief ministers of Congress-ruled states, state unit presidents, and senior leaders, the two-day conclave is expected to craft the party's roadmap for the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.
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