Congress leader Rahul Gandhi during the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Telangana on Saturday said that they shouldn't fall into the trap of BJP's narrative and must stand by the poor, according to sources.
Speaking in the meeting, Sonia Gandhi said that everyone needs to remain united and work together with the I.N.D.I.A. alliance, sources said.
Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh and Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Bhagel in view of the upcoming assembly elections in five states said that there is a need to remain cautious on the issues like Sanatana.
On 'One Nation, One Election' issue, Congress MP P Chidambaram while addressing a presser on the CWC meeting said, "The One Nation, One Election is an assault on the Constitution. We reject it. It is an attack on Federalism. It will require at least five Constitutional amendments. The BJP knows that it does not have the numbers to pass these Constitutional amendments. Yet if it puts forward this mirage of One Nation, One Election, it is only to divert attention from the pressing issues and to create a false narrative..."
Among other issues which were discussed in the CWC meeting, the party called for increasing the existing upper limit of reservations for scheduled castes, scheduled tribes and OBCs.
In a resolution adopted at its first meeting after being reconstituted, the CWC also called for the conducting of a caste census.
The Congress' top decision-making body expressed grave concern at "increasing unemployment and continuous rise in prices, especially of essential commodities".
"The prime minister's so-called Rozgar Melas are a hoax to cover up the abject failure to create, as promised, two crore jobs a year. The failure to conduct the decennial Census, due in 2021, is a national and an international shame," the resolution said.
"The CWC also underlines the stubborn refusal of the Modi government to conduct a caste census. This refusal in the face of a universal demand has exposed the BJP's lack of commitment to social and economic justice and its bias against the backward classes, Dalits and tribal people," it alleged.
On the Manipur violence issue, the CWC said, "The Congress Working Committee expresses its profound sense of loss and anguish at the ongoing situation of ethnic violence in Manipur. The people of Manipur have witnessed extreme devastation and are facing innumerable hardships. More than 200 lives have been lost, over 500 injured and more than 5,000 houses gutted in arson-related incidents. A staggering number of over 60,000 people are displaced and continue to live in dire conditions in relief camps across the state. Schools and colleges were closed for nearly three months adversely affecting the education and learning of children and youth in Manipur. The lives and livelihoods of a vast majority of the state across communities are at peril."
The CWC conveys its heartfelt condolences and stands firmly with the bereaved families and people of Manipur, and resolves that the Congress party will take all possible measures to support their rehabilitation.
With inputs from PTI
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