Daijiworld Media Network - New Delhi
New Delhi, Aug 19: The Congress on Wednesday announced nationwide campaigns on alleged examination paper leaks and the “chanda chori” issue concerning donations to the Ram temple, while its top decision-making body decided that only the first two stanzas of Vande Mataram would be sung at party events.
The decisions were taken at a four-hour meeting of the Congress Working Committee (CWC), which also asked the four Congress-ruled states to prepare reports on reforms required in their education and examination systems. The chief ministers have been directed to submit the reports to party president Mallikarjun Kharge within a month.
The CWC resolution expressed concern over alleged paper leaks, alleged irregularities in Ram temple donations and the Supreme Court-monitored probe into the matter. It also raised issues relating to the government's foreign policy, alleged Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh, implementation of 33 per cent reservation for women in the Lok Sabha and the impact of E20 fuel.
The Congress said its “Chhatron Ki Goonj” campaign, aimed at highlighting issues faced by students, would be organised in nearly 800 cities. Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi is expected to participate in some of the programmes.
The campaign has already been conducted in Kota, Dehradun and Prayagraj and will be held in Pune on Saturday, where Gandhi is scheduled to address the gathering.
The party also decided to take the “chanda chori” issue to the grassroots, directing Pradesh Congress Committees to raise the matter at 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 Congress also described the Monsoon Session of Parliament as a “success” for the Opposition, claiming that opposition parties had jointly raised issues that put the government on the defensive.
In his opening remarks at the meeting, 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 urged the Congress to intensify its grassroots campaign against the government.
After the CWC meeting, Congress general secretary K C Venugopal said the party would follow the 1937 Congress resolution on Vande Mataram and sing only its first two stanzas at party events.
“There is no confusion on that,” Venugopal said, 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 replied in the affirmative. He said Vande Mataram and the National Anthem were emotional issues for the Congress, while alleging that the BJP treated them as political matters.
The CWC also reiterated its demand for immediate implementation of women's reservation and called for the current strength of the Lok Sabha to remain frozen at 543 seats for another 25 years.
The Congress wants one-third reservation for women to be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections while retaining the existing allocation of seats among states during the proposed freeze.
On Arunachal Pradesh, the party 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.