Form a ‘resistance’: Rahul to INDIA bloc

Form a 'Resistance': Rahul Gandhi Urges INDIA Bloc to Challenge BJP

Opposition Leader Calls for Shift from Electoral Politics to Mass Mobilization

Form a resistance - In a pivotal address to the INDIA bloc partners, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi emphasized the need for a sustained "resistance" strategy to confront the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The meeting, held in New Delhi on June 8, was shared by Gandhi on social media as a nine-minute speech highlighting his vision for the opposition's future.

Condemning Lack of Unity and Fair Play

Gandhi criticized the bloc for internal discord, pointing out that parties like the Samajwadi Party (SP), Trinamool Congress (TMC), and Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) believed their past tactics would remain effective. He argued that these strategies only thrived when the Indian government ensured equitable conditions for political operations, which he claimed no longer existed.

“I’m sorry to say that there is confusion in this group. The confusion is that you, the SP, the TMC, the RJD believe that the political instruments you have used so far will still work. These only worked when the Indian State provided a fair field for them to operate in. That field does not exist anymore,” he said.

Advocating for a Resistance Movement

Gandhi urged the opposition to transition from conventional electoral politics to an aggressive, mass-mobilization "resistance movement." He positioned the Congress as the bloc's central force, vowing to endure any setbacks to maintain a cohesive front against the BJP.

“He also reiterated his allegation that the election commission was acting in a partisan manner. He urged all partners to accept, with '100%’ certainty, that the elections 'were being stolen' and to stop treating it as a matter of doubt.”

Historical Lessons and Personal Campaigns

Gandhi drew parallels between the Congress party’s evolution a century ago and the alliance’s current path. Before 1927, he noted, the Congress was a political entity, but it transformed into a resistance force after Mahatma Gandhi’s call for independence. He added that resistance remains the most effective tool when political freedom is curtailed, citing his own 4,000-kilometer journey across the nation during the Bharat Jodo and Bharat Jodo Nyay Yatras.

“The day Gandhi ji said we want independence, we became a resistance movement,” he said, adding that if political parties could no longer function freely, resistance was the only instrument that worked.

BJP Challenges Gandhi’s Leadership

The BJP responded to Gandhi’s remarks, with spokesperson Shahzad Poonawalla accusing him of prioritizing the bloc’s unity over Congress’s internal cohesion. “Rahul Gandhi told the INDI alliance that his job is to unite everyone. But first he should unite his own party. He (Gandhi) says that everyone should work together. Yet, he is the one who betrays allies,” Poonawalla stated in a video statement.