Kharge says 'laughable that BJP-RSS claim Sardar Patel's legacy', asks Congress to strengthen itself

Ahmedabad: Accusing the BJP-RSS of "stealing" the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhai Patel, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Saturday called for strengthening the organisation to take forward the ideology of social justice.

Addressing the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Patel Memorial here, he said numerical strength is "meaningless" without organisation, as he quoted Patel, and insisted that Gandhi's ideological legacy is the "real capital" that only the Congress has.

Ahead of the AICC Session here, he said the Congress derived more strength from Gujarat than anywhere else and the party has returned to the state for inspiration and strength.

"Our real strength is the unity and integrity of our country and the ideology of social justice. But today, to take that ideology forward, it is necessary that we first strengthen ourselves," he said.

Quoting Patel, the Congress President said numerical strength without organisation is meaningless. "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 quoted Sardar Patel.

He said ideological opponents of Gandhi is taking over institutions associated with the Mahatma, including Sarva Seva Sangh in Varanasi and emphasising that Gandhians and people of cooperative movement are being marginalised.

"People with such thinking even stole Gandhiji's glasses and stick. But we can never follow their ideals. Gandhi's ideological legacy is the real capital that only the Congress has," he said.

Insisting that a well-planned conspiracy is being carried out regarding many national heroes for the past several years, he said Patel's ideology was against RSS and even banned it but it is laughable that the Sangh Parivar claims his legacy.

He said an atmosphere is being created against the Congress, which has a glorious history of serving and fighting for the country for the last 140 years, and it is being done by those who have nothing to show as their achievement.

He also said the BJP-RSS conspired to show that Patel and Nehru shared a difficult relationship but the truth is that they were two sides of the same coin, as he cited instances of how both the "two heroes" had admired each other.

Attacking the BJP-RSS, he said Gandhi and Patel ensured that BR Ambedkar was made a member of Constituent Assembly but the Sangh Parivar criticised Gandhi, Nehru and Ambedkar and even burnt their effigies.

Speaking on the delegate session, he said, “tomorrow in the Congress session we will get a chance to say and listen to many things. We will discuss the challenges before the party and also find a way for the future."