The Congress on Saturday said the Election Commission should go back to the use of ballot paper in elections, instead of electronic voting machines, ANI reported. At its plenary session in New Delhi, the party expressed concerns about the machines being vulnerable to manipulation.
The Congress also moved a resolution against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led government’s proposal to conduct simultaneous elections in the country. “The BJP’s move for simultaneous elections is misplaced,” The Indian Express quoted the party’s resolution statement. “It is incompatible with the constitution and is also impractical. It will have serious implications, which must be thoroughly enquired into and a national consensus built.”
Congress President Rahul Gandhi said the country is tired of what is happening under the rule of the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government.
“Only the Congress can show the way and heal divisions in the nation,” he said. “The symbol of the hand is the symbol of the Congress party. This is the symbol that holds the country together, shows us the way and will take India forward.”
At the event, he accused the BJP of using anger and hate, unlike the Congress, which he said uses love. “The difference between our party and the incumbent ruling party is that they follow the ideology of hatred while we follow the ideology of love and fraternity,” Rahul Gandhi said. “This country belongs to everyone, and whatever the Congress will do will be for the benefit for all.”
Former Congress President Sonia Gandhi accused the prime minister of being arrogant. “The slogans of ‘sab ka saath, sab ka vikas’ and ‘na khaoonga, na khaane doonga’ are only and only dramebazi (drama) and a trick to grab power,” The Hindu quoted her as saying.
The former party president said her son had taken over as Congress chief during such a “such difficult times”.
Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah said that nobody could stop Gandhi from become the prime minister in 2019.
“With your blessings and cooperation, we will once again win Karnataka,” Congress leader in the Lok Sabha Mallikarjun Kharge told the gathering. “The way BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh workers go door-to-door, the same way you can also help us in Karnataka.”
The Congress also said it was ready to “adopt a pragmatic approach for cooperation with all like-minded parties and evolve a common workable programme” to defeat the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 2019.
Ahead of the plenary session, Rahul Gandhi’s Twitter handle was changed from @OfficeOfRG to just @RahulGandhi. “I look forward to your feedback and comments and to continuing my dialogue with you via Twitter and other platforms,” he said in a tweet on Saturday morning.
Rahul Gandhi had been tweeting through his @OfficeOfRG handle since 2015.
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