[<<Sonia attacked the government over farmer suicides, Rafael [read: Rafale] deal, unemployment, decline in investment and handling of Kashmir and alleged that many cases of violence against minorities and Dalits are not sporadic or random, but "orchestrated to polarise our society for narrow political gains".>>]
http://www.dnaindia.com/india/report-sonia-gandhi-clarion-call-for-front-against-pm-modi-2582857 Sonia Gandhi clarion call for front against PM Modi Rahul Gandhi and Sonia Gandhi WRITTEN BY dna Correspondent Updated: Feb 9, 2018, 05:00 AM IST Congress leader Sonia Gandhi gave a clarion call on Thursday for larger Opposition unig [read: uniting] "like-minded" parties" to defeat the BJP in the 2019 general elections, while also sending out a message that her son and party president Rahul Gandhi was her boss, too. Sonia asked party colleagues to be in a state of readiness for the national elections. Addressing a meeting of the Congress Parliamentary Party after Rahul became party chief in December, Sonia said that she now as CPP chairperson will work with the president and other colleagues, in discussions with like-minded parties, for the BJP's defeat in 2019. She said people from all sections in the country are increasingly getting disillusioned with the present regime, and that it is now for the Congress to "channel this discontent into support". On Rahul, she said, "He is now my boss too — let there be no doubt about that — and I know that all of you will work with him with the same dedication, loyalty and enthusiasm as you did with me." Her call for Opposition unity comes at a crucial time. The Congress is sensing green shoots after it increased its seats in Prime Minister Narendra Modi's home turf Gujarat in December's Assembly elections and swept last week's bypolls in Rajasthan. With some senior leaders in the Opposition still not very enthused with the idea of working under Rahul's leadership, Sonia's comments signalled that she is still there to navigate efforts towards a strong anti-BJP bloc. Acknowledging that the Lok Sabha election result in 2014, when the Congress clocked its worst-ever performance of 44 seats, was "no doubt a severe setback", she said that she was convinced it was an "aberration". Sonia cited the results in Guajrat and Rajasthan to claim that a process of revival has begun and the "winds of change are coming". She expressed confidence that very soon Karnataka's election results too will underline the resurgence of the Congress. Accusing the BJP government at the Centre of bringing institutions under "systematic assault" and having "wantonly damaged" liberal, secular and democratic values, she said, "An all-pervasive atmosphere of fear and intimidation has been created. As we look around us, we see a deeply troubled country and deeply troubled people." Sonia attacked the government over farmer suicides, Rafael [read: Rafale] deal, unemployment, decline in investment and handling of Kashmir and alleged that many cases of violence against minorities and Dalits are not sporadic or random, but "orchestrated to polarise our society for narrow political gains". "We saw this in both UP and Gujarat. We will no doubt see it again in Karnataka," she said. -- Peace Is Doable -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Green Youth Movement" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send an email to [email protected]. Visit this group at https://groups.google.com/group/greenyouth. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
