Those who do not fulfil responsibilities in party should retire: Congress' Mallikarjun Kharge

Ahmedabad: In a sharp message to party leaders, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Wednesday said those who do not help out in party work "need to take rest" while those who do not fulfil their responsibilities should retire.

In his presidential address at the AICC session on the banks of the Sabarmati River, Kharge also stressed that District Congress Committee presidents' role in the organisation will be greatly enhanced, and their appointment will be done strictly and impartially as per the guidelines issued by the AICC.

"The role of district presidents is going to be important in the formation of the organisation. Therefore, their appointment has to be done strictly and impartially as per the AICC guidelines," he said.

The district president has to make the booth committee, mandal committee, block committee and district committee by adding the best people within one year of his or her appointment, Kharge said.

There should be no bias in this, he added.

"We also called three meetings of district presidents from across the country. Rahul ji and I talked to them and took their inputs. In future, we are going to involve district presidents in the candidate selection process for polls," the Congress president said.

"I also want to say that those who do not help in party work, need to rest, those who do not fulfil their responsibilities must retire," Kharge said.

The Congress president said the party is following the principles of the Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.

"From the banks of Sabarmati, we are going to take the message of determination, struggle and dedication to walk on the path of justice," he said.

He also recalled what Sardar Patel had said about the importance of organisation.

"Numbers are useless without organisation. Numbers are not the real strength without organisation. It is a different matter if the threads of yarn remain separate. But when they gather in large numbers, they take the form of a cloth. Then their strength, beauty and utility become amazing," Kharge said quoting Patel in Hindi.

"We are again fighting for India's independence. In this second battle for independence, the enemies are again injustice, inequality, discrimination, poverty and communalism," Kharge asserted.

The only difference is that back then foreigners used to promote injustice, poverty and inequality, now our own government is doing it, Kharge said.

"Then foreigners used to take advantage of communalism, today our own government is taking advantage of it," he charged.

"But we will win this battle too!" Kharge added.