NEW DELHI: The Congress commemorated the 149th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi with a big show of strength at Wardha as it has been concerned with the BJP’s attempts to appropriate India’s biggest public icon.
“The BJP is opposed to the ideals of the Mahatma, but has been deliberately trying to appropriate him since 2014,” a senior AICC functionary told TNIE.
Congress insiders said the event at Wardha was needed to reassure the workers about the party’s core ideology, convey a message among the voters that Gandhi originally belonged to the Congress and expose the BJP’s double standards.
Wardha was chosen given its significance in the historic Quit India Movement. To match up with the atmospherics of the 1942 CWC meeting, the Congress leaders went back to the floor seating arrangement on Tuesday.
“Even after 150 years, Bapu is more relevant. Let’s not forget he walked across the entire nation and sacrificed his life to uphold his three fundamental core beliefs: freedom through non-violence, communal harmony and protecting the marginalised,” senior leader Ahmed Patel said.