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Congress to bat for unity through ‘Bharat Jodo’ movement, says Ajay Maken
On the future of the Congress, Ajay Maken said party president Sonia Gandhi had suggested bringing about ‘structural changes’ within the party at the Chintan Shivir’ held in Udaipur recently.
New Delhi: The resolutions decided on during the Congress party’s ‘Chintan Shivir’ in Udaipur will be followed in “letter and spirit”, All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary Ajay Maken said on Tuesday. The Congress has adopted the ‘Bharat Jodo’ slogan to connect the people of India amid growing tensions in the country, he said.
“We took the slogan ‘Jodo, Jodo, Bharat Jodo’ from Subba Rao (Gandhian and freedom fighter) and all the members of the Congress will conduct ‘yatras’ in every corner of the country to talk about reuniting (the Union of) India,” Maken said.
Taking a swipe at the Centre, he said the BJP thinks India is a collection of geographical landmass. “But it’s not the truth. India is a miscellany of its citizens”. He said the Union of India breaks when people fight in the name of religion, the distinction between the rich and poor increases and Dalits and Adivasis continue to face atrocities.
He said the Congress wants to give out the message through the ‘Navsankalp Chintan Shivir’ that it will not let India break.
Talking about the future of the Congress, Maken said party president Sonia Gandhi had suggested bringing about ‘structural changes’ in the party. “We need to match our steps with the tools of democracy, that has changed within the last decade, and it is possible with a structural change (of the party),” he said.
He also spoke about giving appropriate representation to the youth at every level. “When we talk about 50 under 50 (formula adopted for 50% representation to those below 50 years of age), it will be implemented at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) level to down below (block-level) and it is our resolution,” he said.
State-level workshops will be set up soon to discuss the ‘Navsankalp’ declaration and its implementation, he added. “All the vacant positions (within the party) will be filled soon,” he said.
He added that election management, public insight and national institute of training departments will soon be established. “We will look after the possibilities to implement ‘one person one position’ formula. We are also identifying those who have been holding a position for more than five years at every level and will remove them,” he said.
He further announced that Congress members will conduct a 75 km-long ‘Padyatra’ from August 9, to mark 75 years of Independence.
