We are again fighting for India’s freedom. In this second freedom struggle, the enemies are again injustice, inequality, discrimination, poverty and communalism: Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge

Extracts of the Opening Remarks of Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge at the AICC Meeting at Ahmedabad, Gujarat on April 9, 2025

Respected Sonia Gandhi Ji, Rahul Gandhi Ji, all the respected colleagues sitting on the stage and all the AICC members from across the country: In the 140-year history of Congress, 86 (eighty-six) conventions were held. Out of these, 6 were held on the soil of Gujarat. In Gujarat too, 3 were held in Ahmedabad city. More than 600 years old Ahmedabad is like a pilgrimage for us. Sabarmati Ashram is here, Sardar Patel National Memorial and many memories.

This convention is dedicated to the centenary of Gandhiji becoming the Congress President and the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel Sahib. We had announced to hold the AICC convention in Ahmedabad on 26 December in Belagavi. Mahatma Gandhi showed the path of truth and non-violence not only to India but to the whole world and got freedom through this path. His statue is installed in every country of the world and postage stamps have been issued.

Gujarat has played an invaluable role in the formation of Congress. The three great personalities born here, Dada Bhai Naoroji, Gandhiji and Sardar Patel made the name of Congress famous in the whole world. He was the President of our Congress Party.

Our great leader Sardar Patel unified the princely states of India and made it a strong nation. This year on 31st October, we will celebrate his 150th birth anniversary across the country. Yesterday, as a tribute to him, we organized an extended CWC meeting in the Sardar Patel Memorial Hall.

We are proud that Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose became the Congress President in 1938 in Gujarat itself. Gujarat has also played a major role in influencing the life of Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar, Chairman of the Constitution Drafting Committee.

Friends, the place where we are holding our convention is a land of inspiration. It was from here that Gandhiji started the Dandi March on March 12, 1930, with just 79 Satyagrahis. The British government was shaken by that Salt Satyagraha. 75 years later, in 2005, during the tenure of Smt. Sonia Gandhi as Congress President, Congress again organized the Dandi March, which inspired the youth of the country.

Under the leadership of Mahatma Gandhi, Congress became the Party of villages, farms, labourers and the poor and became the voice of the weaker sections. Gandhiji used to think about the last man standing in the queue. ‘Antyodaya’ was Gandhiji's thinking.

What Gandhiji had said for Congress on June 15, 1946, is equally important even today, “Be it Hindu, Muslim or any caste, for Congress all are equal. It is the work of Congress to uplift those who are weak. To bring those who are in the abyss to the top. To bring everyone to a place of equality. Congress thinks that neither anyone wants to live on the peak of Himalayas nor in the depths of hell.” In 1947, while speaking on a resolution against communal organizations in the AICC meeting, Gandhiji had said, “Congress is the servant of the whole country and all communities. The proper answer to communal organizations and their poisonous principles and actions would be that Congress should create a strong public opinion so that they become ineffective.”

I am telling these words of Gandhiji especially for my young comrades. Between 1920 and 1947, there was no such important resolution of Congress on which Gandhiji's stamp was not there. Friends, these were the things of our Party's glorious history. Now I will say a few things about the current situation. In the last 11 years, the ruling party has been attacking the Constitution. It is constantly attacking our constitutional values, constitutional provisions, constitutional institutions.

In the recent budget session of the Parliament, the government acted arbitrarily. The speaker took the name of the opposition leader Rahul Gandhiji, but did not allow him to speak. In the Congress era, whenever the opposition leader stood up and wanted to speak, he was given a chance to speak. This was the tradition.

But what is happening today has never happened before. Instead of debating on important issues of public concern, the government kept debating in the Parliament till 3-4 in the night for communal polarization and there was only nominal discussion on important issues like Manipur. America imposed a 26 percent tariff against us, but there was no debate allowed on this in the Parliament. Monopolies are being established in the country's economy. Public assets are slowly being handed over to private hands.

By selling public sector undertakings, lakhs of permanent government jobs and reservations for SC, ST, OBC, EWS have been affected. Be it airport, port, mining or electricity, media houses or telecom! This government is even getting satellite technology from America to its industrialist friends without auction, which is also a threat to our national security.

Today, efforts are being made to make everything from the Election Commission to the Parliament an extension of the government. There is fraud in elections. With the advancement of electronic technology, developed countries of the world have abandoned EVMs and moved towards ballot papers. But our Election Commission is not ready to take cognizance of this problem. We saw in the Maharashtra elections that fake voter lists are being prepared. Instead of stopping the large-scale irregularities in the voter list, the Commission is threatening the political parties who ask questions.

The government gives new slogans every few days. But the purpose behind this is only to divert the attention of the people. Today 15 lakh wealthy Indians have settled abroad. To escape unemployment, the youth who went abroad to work are brought back in chains. But the people who looted government banks and fled abroad are living comfortably there.

The ruling party is repeatedly trying to tell that India's development has happened only after 2014. Take the example of Gujarat, most of the institutions here were built during Congress rule. Gandhinagar, the second modern city of the country after Chandigarh, is also the gift of Congress. Are the big educational institutions like IIM and ISRO came after 2014? Did the White Revolution come after 2014? Did the work done by Tribhuvan Das Patel and V Kurien happen after 2014?

After becoming the Prime Minister, Narendra Modi abolished the Planning Commission in 2014. After becoming the Congress President in 1938, Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose had talked about the Planning Commission in detail for the first time. He had made Pandit Nehru the Chairman of his Planning Committee. But Modiji erased that history.

The government has been destroying the established dignity of center-state relations by treating the opposition states step-motherly in the last 11 years. Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Telangana, Jharkhand or Bengal, these states are deprived of the amount due to them.

In opposition states, the governors sent by them create hurdles in the decisions of the state government. Just yesterday, the Supreme Court made a sharp comment and ordered to give a decision within the time limit.

The future of the youth is being played with by communalizing and commercializing education. Social justice is being ignored by privatizing higher education. Dalit, tribal, backward, extremely backward and poor children are getting away from education. Due to the incompetence of the government, a large class of youth is being prepared who will be forced to do cheap labor in the absence of higher education.

This government repeatedly crushes the farmers' movement. Modi ji had said that he would give MSP to the farmers and double their income. Far from doubling the income, the debt on the farmers has increased three times.

The laws that protect the rights of workers have been weakened by the government. The voice of the trade union has been suppressed. Wages have been stagnant for the last 10 years. When the central government made the women reservation law, the Congress Party demanded that it be implemented immediately. It also demanded that one-third of the reserved women seats be reserved for women from Dalit, tribal and backward classes.

Congress governments have made many laws at different times to protect the ‘Jal, Jangal, Jameen’ of the tribals. Laws like PESA, Forest Rights Act, Land Acquisition Act are being systematically weakened. By calling the tribals ‘Vanvasi’ (forest dwellers), their identity and self-respect is being questioned.

Every day we see cases of increasing oppression against Dalits. Many such incidents took place in Gujarat under the BJP government which were ignored. Census 2021 has been pending for four years. We demanded caste census - the government is silent on it. All government work is currently going on the census data of 2011. Due to this, 14 crore people are not able to take advantage of the National Food Security Act and other schemes.

When 143 countries got their census done even after Corona, then why is the Modi government not getting it done. Whose figures does it want to hide - deaths due to Corona, poverty, inflation, hunger or unemployment?

Unemployment of graduate youth in the country is at 13 percent. Businesses are coming to a standstill. The government itself admits that 5 lakh MSME units have closed down in 5 years. You know the condition of diamond workers of Surat.

Before 2014, Modiji used to give the slogan of reducing inflation. But BJP has increased the inflation meter so much that it is difficult for the common man to live. While the price of crude oil is falling to a record low in the international market, the Modi government is continuously increasing the prices of petrol, diesel and LPG cylinders. Recently, again the price of petrol and diesel has been increased by Rs. 2 and the price of cylinder has been increased by Rs. 50.

GST has hit everything. Inflation is so severe that 100 crore countrymen do not have any savings left to spend. Every Indian has an average tax of Rs. 15,000 and now these people have brought in the provision of spying in the new income tax bill, through which the government can check your mobile, computer, social media, ledger, everything.

Modiji never gets tired of talking about ‘Make in India’ but production has decreased. Forget about foreign capital coming in, Indian companies themselves are giving priority to going abroad and doing business.

Instead of preparing for future challenges, the ruling party is inciting communalism by raising 500-year-old issues. Such dangerous thinking should never be supported. Baba Saheb had warned about this 75 years ago, "If political parties put their religion above the country, then our freedom will once again be in danger and may end forever. We all should resist this possible eventuality with firm determination. We should resolve to protect our freedom with the last drop of our blood."

If the 11 years of work of the ruling party is reviewed, it will be - diverting attention, lying, hiding the truth and spreading hatred. The youth of the new generation are told lies through WhatsApp forwards that there had been a competition between Mahatma Gandhi and Bose or between Nehru and Patel. Home Minister insults Baba Saheb Dr. Ambedkar.

While the reality is the opposite. There was a very deep relationship between our leaders. They were companions in happiness and sorrow. Unfortunately, the hatred spread by the Sangh snatched Mahatma Gandhi from us just a year after independence. After Gandhiji's martyrdom, Nehruji had said, "We must live together and destroy the poison of terrible communalism that killed the greatest man of our times."

The Congress Party is following the principles of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel. From the banks of Sabarmati, we are going to take the message of determination, struggle and dedication to walk on the path of justice.

I will conclude my speech by repeating what Sardar Patel had said about the importance of organization. He had said, "Numbers are useless without organization. Numbers are not real strength without organization. It is one thing that the threads of a yarn remain separate. But when they come together in large numbers, they take the form of a cloth. Then their strength, beauty and utility become amazing."

The role of District Presidents is going to be important in organization building. Therefore, their appointment has to be done impartially as per the strict guidelines of AICC. The District President has to make booth committee, mandal committee, block committee and district committee within 1 year of his appointment by adding the best people. There should be no bias in this. We also called 3 meetings of District Presidents from across the country. Rahul ji and I talked to them and welcomed their inputs. In future, we are going to include District President in the process of candidate selection.

Along with this, I also want to say that those who do not help in Party work need to take rest. Those who do not fulfill their responsibilities will be retired. I would like to tell my friends from Gujarat that you should leave your homes with a resolve. Success is ready to kiss your feet.

We are again fighting for India's freedom. In this second freedom struggle, the enemies are again injustice, inequality, discrimination, poverty and communalism. The only difference is that earlier foreigners used to promote injustice, poverty and inequality, now our own government is doing so! Then foreigners used to take advantage of communalism, today our own government is taking advantage. But we will win even this battle!

Jai Hind! Jai Gujarat! Jai Congress!