Congress must be a party of hope, not resentment: Tharoor at AICC session

Ahmedabad: Senior Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Wednesday warned the party against turning the organisation into "negativity" and "resentment" and harping too much on the past could drive away the young voters, who "do not apparently give much importance to history" but look at what kind of future they could get.

Seconding the 'Nyay Path' resolution presented by senior leader Sachin Pilot at the AICC Session here, the Thiruvananthapuram MP said the Congress "must be a party of hope, not of resentment" while insisting that the 12-page document expresses "constructive criticism and not mere unrelenting negativity".

Tharoor was at loggerheads with the party as he praised or supported certain measures taken by the Narendra Modi government on foreign affairs as well as Covid-19 handling at a time the party had gone on attack mode.

In a brief address, he said Congress should be a party of "positivity, not only of negativism, a party of the future, not just of the past, a party with a positive narrative and not just criticism. I hope we will leave here with a resounding message to the nation that we are here and we will fight with a resolve, we will focus on the future, and we will build a better India for all."

Hours before the resolution was adopted without any amendments, he repeated some of the remarks he made at the extended Congress Working Committee meeting on Tuesday to examine the draft resolution and said the Congress has an "illustrious history" of 40 years and added, "but we are all too conscious that the young voters, who are the majority today, do not apparently give much importance to history."

"They want to know what we will do for them, do for them today, and what kind of tomorrow we can provide. Our resolution will be judged by that. And that is what we must focus on," he said in what is seen as his expression of a divergent voice in the party on its future course.

He said 2024 has given them "both good news and bad news" with a good result in Lok Sabha elections when they doubled their strength in the Lower House followed by "bad news" in a number of state elections that followed.

Emphasising that the resolution marks a turning point in the fortunes of the party, he said there is a "need to retain and restore" the votes they have won before but that they had failed to win the last three elections.

Insisting that the resolution showcases the party’s nationalism upfront rather than ceding it to the other side, he said Congress' nationalism is anchored in the well-being of all and in social justice. A major theme of this resolution is protecting the weak, the marginalised, the OBCs, SCs, STs, those who have been left out of the great adventure of building the country, he said.

“As our Constitution makes clear, it doesn’t matter what language you speak, which state you come from, what religion you profess, what caste you belong to, you are an Indian and the Constitution ensures that you have the same rights as every other Indian. That is what the Congress has stood for,” he said.

“We understand the variety, the pluralism of India. We all come from different parts of this great country. But we understand standing here that you can be a good Gujarati, a good Muslim and a good Indian all at once,” he said.

Referring to the North-South divide, he said, "I proudly say that I am from South India and I say too, ‘Nafrat Chhodo, Bharat Jodo’...Nothing anti-national about it, because we can be committed to the well-being of our people in our states, and at the same time committed to the success and glory of all of India."

On Gujarat, he said the Congress is reviving itself and is ready to face the challenges of tomorrow. “Here in Gujarat where we have been out of power for three decades, we stand on the brink of a new revival and that is a moment of celebration for all of us here. 2024 has given us both good news and bad news -- a good result in the Lok Sabha elections where we doubled our strength but bad news in a number of state elections that followed,” he added.