VoV Web Desk

Rahul Gandhi takes charge as Congress president

Decrease Font Size Increase Font Size Text Size Print This Page

December 16, 2017

Soon after taking charge as the Congress president, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a frontal attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party, accusing it of spreading hatred and alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi was taking India back to medieval times.

Gandhi said the BJP is “fighting for itself”, while the Congress is “fighting for everyone” in the country.

The Congress chief said he wanted the party to be an instrument of dialogue with people from all corners of the country, “all religions, all ethnicities, all ages and gender and for our dialogue to be led by love and affection”.

He lamented that politics “was being used today to crush the people and not lift them up”.

“The BJP is spreading hatred and communalism… they break, while we unite. They ignite fire, we douse it,” Gandhi said.

“The Congress took India into 21st century, while the prime minister today is taking us backwards to medieval past when people are butchered because of who they are, beaten for what they believe and killed for what they eat,” he alleged.

“This ugly violence shames us in the world,” he said in his first address to party men after taking over as the Congress president.

Reaching out to the youth, he said as “it is stated that the Congress is a grand old party we will make it a grand old and young party… we will fight all hatred with love.”

Rahul Gandhi said the Congress party is like a family to him and vowed to take it forward.

Rahul Gandhi, 47, took charge of the Congress in the presence of his mother and outgoing president Sonia Gandhi, sister Priyanka Gandhi-Vadra, her husband Robert Vadra, former prime minister Manmohan Singh and other senior party leaders.

The Congress’s central election authority handed him over the certificate of his elevation to the top post during a grand event held at the lawns of the All India Congress Committee headquarters in New Delhi.

While handing over the certificate, CEA chairman Mullappally Ramachandran termed the moment as “historic”.

There was chaos outside the AICC headquarters where the Congress workers gathered in large numbers for the event, making it difficult even for the senior party leaders to enter the venue.

Meanwhile, parts of Lutyens’ Delhi were dotted with posters hailing Rahul Gandhi’s ascension with some of them describing the development as the beginning of a New India.(Agencies)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *