Ahead of Assembly elections in four states this year, former Congress chief Sonia Gandhi has asked party leaders to not become “complacent” and “over-confident” despite the ‘mahaul’ (situation) being in their favour. We must sustain the momentum and goodwill that has been generated for us in the Lok Sabha elections. She told the party that a good performance in the upcoming state elections would change the course of course of national politics.
She made the remarks during the Congress Parliamentary Party meeting. Congress put up a stellar show in the Lok Sabha elections, bettering its seat share to 99 from 52 in 2019. The INDIA bloc, led by the party, won 30 of 40 seats in Maharashtra and 43 of 80 seats in Uttar Pradesh. The BJP is in power in both these states, but failed to make inroads in the general elections.
Sonia Gandhi urged Congress leaders to sustain the “momentum and goodwill” that was generated in the Lok Sabha elections, and work “unitedly with a sense of purpose”.
“In a few months, elections will be held in four states. We must not become complacent and over-confident. The ‘mahaul’ does favour us, but we have to work unitedly with a sense of purpose. I dare say that if we perform well, reflecting the trend that we witnessed in the Lok Sabha elections, national politics will undergo a transformation,” the former Congress chief said.
The 77-year-old also had a special message for the first-time MPs, asking them to be “fully prepared”, not miss a Parliament session, and take committee assignments “seriously”.
“Many of you are first-time MPs. We had an orientation programme yesterday. There will be more such occasions. All I wish to reiterate is the need for each and every one of us to be fully prepared. We must be present in Parliament regularly, remain vigilant at all times and take our committee assignments seriously,” she told the first-time MPs.
The former Congress chief also said that the Congress Parliamentary Party requires “more extensive research support and backup”.
“We do have a system in place, but with our increased numbers, this system must get strengthened soon,” she said.
Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir are slated to go to polls by the end of this year.
Sonia Gandhi mentioned the Wayanad landslides triggered by weeks-long heavy rain, which has so far killed over 150 people. She also highlighted “railway accidents” caused by mismanagement in the aftermath of the Mumbai-Howrah Mail derailing in Jharkhand, in which two died, and 20 others were injured.
Senior leader slammed Prime Minister-led Narendra Modi government over the delay in conducting a national census, which has been due since 2021.
“It is clear that the government has no intention whatsoever to conduct the census that was last due in 2021. This will prevent us from having an up-to-date estimate of the population of the country, especially of scheduled castes and scheduled tribes. It also means that at least 12 crore of our citizens are denied the benefit of the National Food Security Act of 2013 – now repackaged as PM Garib Kalyan Anna Yojana,” she said.
Sonia Gandhi congratulated Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and other INDIA bloc MPs for speaking out the alliance’s views during the debate on the Motion of Thanks to the President’s address.
“Pressing demands of farmers and youth in particular, have been totally ignored. Allocations in a number of vital sectors have not done justice to the tasks required to be fulfilled. There has been widespread disappointment, in spite of the Prime Minister, the Finance Minister and others talking up the Budget and its so-called accomplishments. The Union Government, especially its top leadership, continues to be self-delusional as crores of families across the country are devastated by mounting unemployment and price rise,” she said.
Sonia Gandhi said that education has been among the “worst casualties” in the past years, with PM Modi-led NDA government making the educational system “flawed” and “manipulated” instead of “taking the nation forward”.
“The exposure of how competitive examinations have been allowed has destroyed the faith of lakhs of youth, and dealt their future a body blow. The professional character and autonomy of organisations like the NCERT, UGC and even of constitutional bodies like the UPSC has been all-but-destroyed,” the veteran leader added.
The former Congress president slammed PM Modi for not visiting Manipur, which has been hit by ethnic violence since May 2023.
“The situation in Manipur shows no sign of any improvement. The Prime Minister, travels the world over, but steadfastly refuses to go to the state and take the initiative to bring about normalcy,” Sonia Gandhi said.
