The Congress has decided to conduct a caste census in the state and provide social justice and constitutional rights to the poor and communities, possibly in an attempt to regain its traditional vote bank, which included tribal people, Dalits, OBCs, and minorities.
The party declared that it would be dedicated to establishing India “along with a modern and developed Gujarat” if it came to power in the state, calling the state-specific resolution adopted at the AICC assembly in Ahmedabad a first of its kind.
The resolution, titled ‘The expectations of Gujarat are incomplete; Congress alone is at the centre of Gujarat’s development’, marked the contributions of the party and credited the people of Gujarat whose “friendly conduct, entrepreneurial spirit, business acumen and hard work had not only made their impression in the state but in the country and the world”.
“The Congress party’s aim is not to grab power but to serve and make sacrifices based on the ideology of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Sahab (Sardar Patel). Every Congress worker of Gujarat will go in the midst of people and when, with the blessings of the people, Congress will form the government in Gujarat, it will work in the realm of the principles of Article 14 enshrined in the Constitution (which ensures equality),” a section of the resolution reads.
Nyay Path, the major resolution of the AICC, criticised the current Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) government, claiming that the SC/ST sub-plan and its funding had been “dismantled” over the previous ten years.
The party’s General Secretary in charge of communications, Jairam Ramesh, told media outlets that the resolution ‘Why was Congress needed in Gujarat?’ was required because the AICC session was being held in the state where the party had been out of power for 30 years.
Since the BJP took control of Gujarat in 1995, the Congress has been out of power. The BJP won 156 of 182 seats in the most recent Assembly elections in 2022, shattering the Congress’s 1985 record of the most seats ever won in a state election. There are now only 12 Gujarat Assembly seats held by the Congress.
Ramesh was quoted as saying, “This will be our strategy, our economic policy… for businessmen, students, middle class, for industry leaders – not for certain capitalists or friends — but for the small businessmen.”
He further said, “This is the first time there is a special resolution for a state in an AICC session, first time in 140 years of history (of the party).”
The resolution also added that the tribals in Gujarat were not getting the right to land ensured under the forest laws enacted by the Congress governments at the Centre. “The Congress is determined to give all tribal people rights over public property and the PESA (Panchayats (Extension to Scheduled Areas)) Act, 1996, will be fully implemented,” the resolution reads.
It pointed out that over 40% of children were malnourished and nearly 55% of women in the state were anaemic.
Additionally, the Congress promised Minimum Support Price (MSP) rights to farmers. The resolution said, “Gujarat has the longest coastline, which is capable of facilitating the import and export for the entire central and northern region of the country. The Congress will strengthen seaports and transport corridors, which will create lakhs of employment opportunities. We will also modernise fisheries.”
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