NEW DELHI: As the Indian National Congress readied itself to shift to a brand new address in New Delhi on the 125th foundation day, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi identified ‘inclusive growth’ as the grand old party’s political mantra.
But a shadow of the Telangana crisis could be felt in the Prime Minister’s speech, in which ‘regionalism’ was listed as one of the ‘big challenges’ before the party and the country, ‘Naxalism, terrorism and communalism’ being the other three.
Asserting that ‘only’ the Congress can play the part of a great unifier that can hold the diverse country together, Singh said that the party was ready to ‘accommodate every shade of opinion within the four walls of the Constitution’.
Sonia, who laid the foundation stone of the new Congress headquarters (to be named Indira Gandhi Bhavan), touched upon the same theme of ‘inclusive’ politics and growth.
“The INC has always represented a secular, democratic, just and inclusive India, that is empowering the disadvantaged and the discriminated,” Sonia said.
Even as she spelt out the party’s political slogan, she sought to washout former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao from the party’s history and memory by giving Rajiv Gandhi the credit for liberalising the Indian economy.
“Rajiv did not live to see the India of his dreams become a reality but he left his personal imprint on the party’s manifesto in 1991. This became the basis for our economic policies in the five years thereafter,” she said.
