New Delhi: At a time when Congress is facing a tough time in the country, the grand old party has started shifting its focus on issues like "Hindutva" and "Nationalism", eyeing the upcoming Assembly elections in five crucial states including Punjab and Uttar Pradesh.
On Wednesday, Congress organized an event to commemorate the golden jubilee of the Bangladesh Liberation War in which Congress President Sonia Gandhi also took part. While Congress leader Rahul Gandhi was also present in the event, he didn't deliver any address to the gathering.
However, Rahul Gandhi has been scheduled to address a public meeting in Uttarakhand, on Thursday, to kick off the party’s Assembly election campaign and also to mark India’s victory over Pakistan in the 1971 war which led to the creation of Bangladesh.
During her address in the event, Sonia Gandhi asserted that 1971 was former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi's "finest year".
"Today, we celebrate a magnificent accomplishment. But I think, Indira Gandhi would have wanted us to do so, not in a boastful spirit or in a spirit of self-glorification, but in a spirit of reflection and resolve. Let us therefore recall and celebrate that glorious occasion reaffirming our steadfast commitment to the values she cherished, the ideals she espoused and the causes she fought for and ultimately sacrificed her life for," she added.
In an attempt to subtly counter the nationalism plank of the BJP, Sonia Gandhi had constituted a committee, last year, headed by former Defence minister A K Antony to plan and coordinate the party’s activities to commemorate the liberation war.
Speaking at the event, AK Antony launched an attack on the current regime of BJP by mentioning about then Opposition Leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying, "He praised Indira as ‘durga’, many other opposition leaders hailed her as ‘shakti’. While we celebrate the 50th year of Bangladesh liberation, during the course of the last one year, I have not heard a sentence of praise, appreciation to the role played by Indira Gandhi by our Prime Minister. I feel sorry about that.”
Before this, Rahul Gandhi had raised the matter of "Hindutva" during a rally in Jaipur, last week. During his address, the Congress leader mentioned that in the present time, there is a clash between two words, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hindutvavadi’.
"These two words do not mean one thing, these are two different words and their meanings are totally different. I am a Hindu but not a Hindutvavadi," he said in the rally. Apart from these, Congress has also been raising the issues of inflation and farmers protest strongly.
Recently, key Opposition parties held a meeting at Sonia Gandhi's residence giving out a message to the current dispensation about the Opposition's unity and a "stronger UPA".
