The Congress on Wednesday announced nationwide campaigns on paper leaks and the alleged “chanda chori” involving donations to the Ram temple, as the party's top decision-making body also resolved that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram will be sung at its events.
The decisions were taken at a four-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which also called on the four Congress-ruled states to prepare reports on reforms needed in their education and examination systems. The chief ministers have been asked to submit the reports to party president Mallikarjun Kharge within a month.
The CWC resolution raised concerns over paper leaks, the alleged irregularities in Ram temple donations and the Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter, the government's foreign policy, alleged Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh, the implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the impact of E20 fuel.
The party said its “Chhatron Ki Goonj” programme, aimed at raising issues affecting students, would be held in nearly 800 cities. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is expected to participate in some of the programmes.
The programme has already been held in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj and will be held in Pune on Saturday, where Gandhi is scheduled to address the gathering.
The Congress said it would take the “chanda chori” issue to the grassroots, directing its Pradesh Congress Committees to raise it at the village and panchayat levels.
“The CWC is deeply distressed by the plight of our youth,” the resolution said, alleging that the government had used force against student movements and restricted dissent.
The party also described the Monsoon Session of Parliament as a “success” for the Opposition, saying opposition parties had jointly raised issues that put the government on the defensive.
In his opening remarks, Kharge accused the Modi government of “destroying” the future of students and said the Congress would formulate an “Education-to-Employment Roadmap” for young people.
According to party sources, Rahul Gandhi told the meeting that the government was on the back foot and that the Congress should intensify its grassroots campaign against it.
After the CWC meeting, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party would follow a 1937 resolution on Vande Mataram and would sing only its first two stanzas at party events.
“There is no confusion on that,” Venugopal told reporters, referring to the resolution adopted by the Congress in 1937.
He said the decision reflected the position taken by the party's leadership at the time, including Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rabindranath Tagore, Subhas Chandra Bose and Sardar Patel.
Asked whether only the first two stanzas would be sung at Congress events, Venugopal said, “Yes, first two stanzas.”
He said Vande Mataram and the National Anthem were emotional issues for the Congress, whereas the BJP treated them as political matters.
The CWC also reiterated its demand for the immediate implementation of women's reservation and for the current strength of the Lok Sabha to remain frozen at 543 seats for another 25 years.
The party wants one-third reservation for women to be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections while retaining the present allocation of seats among states during the proposed freeze.
On Arunachal Pradesh, the Congress accused the government of following a “surrender policy” over alleged Chinese incursions and called for greater scrutiny of the issue.
Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh also demanded an apology from Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the alleged “shudhikaran” incident in Uttarakhand following Kharge's programme there.
Kharge separately questioned Modi's silence over allegations concerning donations to the Ram temple and demanded that the prime minister respond to the issue.
(With inputs from PTI)
