Sonia Gandhi on March 9th delivered the keynote address at the India Today Conclave, 2018 in Mumbai. She appealed for unity against BJP as she has many times before in the upcoming elections.
Gandhi was confident about Congress’ come back in 2019. She said they wouldn’t allow BJP to return to power. Calling the ‘like-minded parties’ to put aside their differences and unite to bring about BJP’s defeat. She went on to say that ‘Acche Din’ would sink just like ‘India Shining’ had under Atal Bihari Vajpayee. The parties weren’t able to unite because of the fighting at the ‘ground level’ she reasoned.
“But if all of us think of the larger picture…if we feel and care for the country, we have to sink local differences,” she said.
She accused the BJP of its ‘regressive vision’ and ‘sustained threat’ to freedom. The main problem she saw with BJP’s governance was the false promises. But this is not new or unknown. When confronted with the question of whether there would ever be a non-Gandhi Congress leader, she responded that in the ‘future, there may well be.” She also spoke about the Congress’ loss in 2014 and attributed it to Modi’s better marketing. But she acknowledged that the upcoming elections would be a challenge for Congress.
Whether they win or not is a question for another day. Gandhi didn’t say hardly anything that the people didn’t already know. But if it has to get votes in 2019, they will have to ensure that their work outshines their words. That is the main challenge Congress faces. She said that the corruption charges against Congress were highly exaggerated. She also mentioned that “political opponents are being targeted through misuse of investigative agencies.” If this is as bad a situation that Gandhi portrays will Congress really save us from this? That is the question to ask.