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'Our Sardar': Congress passes resolution to reclaim Patel's legacyThe two-page resolution titled 'Flag bearer of Freedom Movement – Our ‘Sardar’ – Vallabhbhai Patel' was released after CWC meeting in Ahmedabad.
Satish Jha
Last Updated IST
<div class="paragraphs"><p>Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others after the extended Congress Working Committee in Ahmedabad.&nbsp;</p></div>

Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge with Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, LoP in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and others after the extended Congress Working Committee in Ahmedabad. 

Credit: PTI Photo

Ahmedabad: In a fresh attempt to reclaim the legacy of Sardar Vallabhahai Patel, the Congress on Tuesday passed a resolution centered around Patel. The resolution stated that the party will take on the ruling BJP by taking "inspiration" from Patel's ideology.

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The two-page resolution titled "Flag bearer of Freedom Movement – Our ‘Sardar’ – Vallabhbhai Patel" was released after Congress Working Committee's meeting on the first day of the two-day convention here in Ahmedabad.

The resolution said that Congress leaders gathered in the land of Mahatma Gandhi and Patel to "give a new direction of thought and action to India’s future" on the basis of inspiration from these leaders.

The resolution compared the BJP's rule with the "cruel" Britishers for having "anti-farmer" and anti-poor policies. Alleging that the BJP was dividing the country "by creating artificial splits of regionalism, orchestrating scheming divisions of north v/s south & east v/s west as also wily segregation based on language and culture," the resolution stated, "...once again, the Congress Party is determined to tread upon the path of Sardar Patel of reclaiming the spirit of India by “Shed Hatred-Unite India.”

It said that the party was "ready to walk in the footsteps of Sardar Patel by a renewed struggle for justice against extreme wealth inequality and deeply embedded concentration of wealth." It alleged that the BJP "ravaged Gujarat's bountiful enterprise and used India’s treasury for the enrichment of a handful of crony capitalists."

Mentioning how Nathuram Godse was "indoctrinated" by forces opposed to "truth and non-violence" and murdered Mahatma Gandhi leading to Sardar Patel banning the RSS in 1948, the Congress said, "Today, the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarization. Therefore, once again, the Congress Party is determined to emulate the resoluteness of ‘Iron man’ Sardar Patel by fighting the frenzy of religious polarization."

The resolution has not gone down well among the critics who said that the party can never reclaim the legacy of Patel which has been "smartly" appropriated by BJP. They said that the resolution doesn't offer any concrete strategy to take on the BJP.

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(Published 08 April 2025, 19:55 IST)