BENGALURU: AICC General Secretary, Karnataka incharge, Randeep Singh Surjewala was busy on Sunday holding back-to-back meetings with local party leaders ahead of the legislature session on Monday. Between meetings, he spoke to The New Indian Express on the party’s strategy for the legislature session, its stand on farmers’ protests, KPCC restructuring and the plan for the bypolls and gram panchayat elections.
Farmers here are threatening to hold a protest and take part in the nationwide bandh on Tuesday.
The Congress will stand with farmers of the state and country during Bharat Bandh on December 8. Drunk with power, an arrogant BJP government cannot hear the anguish nor feel the pain of our ‘annadata’. The Congress will fight the arrogance of Modi and Yediyurappa, who is bent upon usurping and handing over the land of farmers to capitalists through the Land Reforms Amendment Bill.
The legislature session beginning on Monday. What is the strategy of Congress?
Maladministration and misgovernance appear to be the philosophy of this BJP government. It wants to push through the Land Reforms Bill and other retrograde laws. The Congress, led by Siddaramaiah (Congress Legislature Party leader), will hold this government accountable during the legislature session.
Why does the party have so many factions here? There is Siddaramaiah, D K Shivakumar and old guard factions.
There is only one faction and that is Congress faction. The party is inherently democratic and doesn’t curb individual aspirations within the ‘Lakshman Rekha’ of party’s interests and discipline. This is what sets us apart from a dictatorial BJP-RSS model. To end expression and voice and sometimes reasonable dissent is to end democracy. It is unfair to read it as factional politics.
Congress has not been reconstituted in the state for the last 10 years.
The process of reconstituting KPCC has already begun. We are holding extensive consultations with our leaders and workers at all levels. It will be completed soon.
The Congress pulled the alliance down in the Bihar elections. Is the party on the decline?
I think the very presumption is wrong. Bihar is a classic case of a stolen mandate. Two of Congress seats and eight of RJD seats that we had won with narrow margins were taken away by misusing returning officers. The party was called upon by the coalition to fight nearly 30 seats that have not been won in three decades. We also gave up 13 of the 41 seats that we contested last time, including three that had sitting Congress MLAs. We followed the coalition dharma. In hindsight, we should have made our coalition more broad based. But we are confident that over the next few months, the Bihar government will crumble under its own weight.
What are the party’s plans for the upcoming Gram Panchayat elections?
Our leaders, MPs, MLAs, MLCs and candidates are determined to reach out and win the elections at the grassroots. We had a healthy discussion and division of responsibilities for panchayat elections on Sunday.
What are the plans for Maski, Basavkalyan and Belagavi bypolls?
We will fight them with full vigour and ensure party’s victory.