Team News Riveting
Udaipur, May 13
Congress President Sonia Gandhi stressed for urgent reforms in the grand old party.
“The circumstances our organisation faces today are extraordinary. Such extraordinary situations demand extraordinary measures,” Sonia Gandhi told Congress delegates while inaugurating the party’s three-day “Chintan Shivir”. In all, 422 delegates are attending the camp going on in seven-star resorts here.
The G-23 members Ghulam Nabi Azad and Anand Sharma were seated in the front row with Rahul Gandhi, Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot and P Chidambaram among others.
“Every organisation, to live and prosper, must reform itself. We are in urgent need of reforms,” Sonia Gandhi said hinting at a comprehensive revamp of Congress. Asserting that Congress would reclaim its position in national politics, the Congress President appealed for unity and collective efforts as measures for revival.
The time has come to keep personal ambitions below organisational imperatives. The party has given a lot to everyone. Now is the time to repay the debt. There is nothing better than this,” Gandhi said seeking free and frank discussions within Chintan Shivir panels.
The delegates were asked to put their cell phones away in specially created lockers. Sonia Gandhi said, “I urge you all to speak freely but to let only one message go out — the message of strength, unity and resolve.”
The Congress President launched a scathing attack on the BJP and said its frequently repeated slogan of ‘maximum governance and minimum government’ meant a host of unsavoury things. She also took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi, taunting him for eloquent slogans when the country “needed a healing touch”.
She said the fires of hatred and discord being ignited were taking a heavy toll on people. “Congress must fight the divisive forces ‘at all costs’,” the Congress President added.
