Cong tussles with BJP in bid to claim Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy

New Delhi: The Congress Party is making a valiant attempt to hold on to Mahatma Gandhi’s legacy by holding a meeting of the Congress Working Committee on October 2, the 149th birth anniversary of the Father of the Nation, at Sevagram near Wardha, the Mahatma’s home for over a decade towards the end of his life.

AICC general secretary Ashok Gehlot tweeted: “To mark the 150th birth anniversary (celebrations) of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress Working Committee meet under the leadership of Congress president Rahul Gandhi will be organised tomorrow at Mahadev Bhavan in Sevagram, Wardha. Indeed it is a historical and delightful moment for us.”

However, the BJP said that “Rahul Gandhi’s Congress” has “now lost the claim to be called Mahatma Gandhi’s Congress” for giving “backhand support” to Pakistan as senior Congress leader Shashi Tharoor “denounced” external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj’s speech at the United Nations, where she attacked Pakistan for harbouring terrorists, as aimed at BJP voters. Prime Minister Narendra Modi also hit out at the Opposition party on Sunday, saying it can abuse him but should stop “belittling” icons like Mahatma Gandhi, Vallabhbhai Patel and Babasaheb Ambedkar after the Congress said the upcoming statue of Sardar Patel in Gujarat was “made in China”.

At the CWC meeting, to be attended by Congress president Rahul Gandhi and his mother Sonia Gandhi, the UPA chairperson, a call will be given to oppose the BJP’s “politics of  hate”, sources said.

The plan to hold the CWC meeting at Wardha was taken in order to counter the BJP’s efforts to appropriate the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi. The Modi government uses the Mahatma’s name in its Swachchh Bharat programme, that was also launched on October 2, 2014.

The Sevagram Ashram also has another symbolic value: it was there Mahatma Gandhi had presided over the last CWC meeting before the Quit India movement in 1942.

Congress chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said: “We will give a call for Quit Communalism, Quit Politics of Hate”. Addressing a press conference in Nagpur, he said: “The situation prevailing in the entire country today can be summed up as loot, jhoot, batware se mukti ka sangram... Phir se Sevagram.”

The party has lined up a slew of events at Wardha. Sources said the party was likely to discuss the country’s social, political and cultural atmosphere and pass a resolution urging people to follow Gandhiji’s vision of love, peace and brotherhood.

The Grand Old Party will then hold a peace march, named “Gandhi Sandesh Yatra — Mahatma Ki Raah Par”, which would be led by the Congress president, Mrs Gandhi and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. After this there will be a public meeting, which would be addressed by Mr Gandhi and attended by Congress leaders from all over the country.