Tharoor backs Digvijaya in matter of ‘strength’
A day after Congress leader Digvijaya Singh created a row by praising the organisational power of RSS-BJP, his party colleague Shashi Tharoor on Sunday backed him, saying the Congress organisation should be strengthened. Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, meanwhile, asserted that the Congress is an ideology and ideologies never die, on the 140th Foundation Day of the party.
Addressing party leaders and workers at the Indira Bhawan headquarters of the party, he said India has become the world’s largest democracy due to the great leaders of the Congress.
“Today, on Foundation Day, I want to clearly say one thing to those who say ‘the Congress is finished’. I want to tell them that our power may be less, but our spine is still straight. We have not compromised; not with the Constitution, not with secularism and not with the rights of the poor. We may not be in power, but we will not bargain,” he said.
On Saturday, Lauding the RSS-BJP organisational setup, Digvijaya Singh had also shared Narendra Modi’s old picture and said how a grassroots worker went on to become the chief minister and prime minister. He made these assertions ahead of the Congress Working Committee meeting.
He also raised the issue of strengthening the Congress organisation at the grassroots level, asserting it was much needed in the fight against the ruling BJP and to oust it from power.
A day later, Digvijaya Singh said he had already stated whatever he had to say. “For 50 years I have been with the Congress party, and I have fought these communal forces, whether in the assembly, parliament or in the organisation,” he noted.
“I have basic differences and am opposed to their ideology. I have and will continue to fight against such people,” Singh claimed. When asked to comment on his Saturday’s remarks, he said, “Every organisation needs strengthening.
At the 140th Foundation Day event at the Congress’s Indira Bhawan headquarters on Sunday, Tharoor was seated next to Digvijaya Singh and exchanged notes.Asked to comment on the issue, Tharoor said, “The organisation should be strengthened, there is no doubt.” On being seated next to Singh and whether the two exchanged views on the matter, Tharoor said, “We keep talking with each other, we are friends and talk to each other.”
“It is the 140th foundation day of the Congress. It is a very important event for the party. It is a day in which we look back on our very remarkable history and the contributions the party has made to the nation,” he also said.
In a social media post, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said, “Today marks the 140th anniv-ersary of the founding of the Indian National Congress, an organisation that played a pivotal role in leading India’s struggle for independence from British rule.”
“Since its first session in 1885, the party has remained a cornerstone of the nation’s democratic journey and political evolution. The occasion was marked with solemnity and camaraderie at Indira Bhavan today,” Tharoor said in his post.
Meanwhile, Congress leader Supriya Shrinate said, “I feel the BJP is distorting the intent of Digvijaya’s post. The Sangh, which spreads hatred and gets inspiration from the ideology of Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, we don’t need to learn anything from them.”
“We are the Indian National Congress, and we fought the freedom struggle against injustice and exploitation of the British rule, and turned it into a Jan Andolan. We don’t need to learn anything from anyone; rather, others should learn from us,” Shrinate claimed.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid said, “We have a lot in the Congress, and others should learn from the Congress instead. We certainly don’t need to learn from the RSS as we oppose that ideology.” Another leader, Rajiv Shukla, said, “The roots of this party are so deep that they can never be wiped out.”
