Not enough to be aggressive on social media: Sonia

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday asked party leaders not to be aggressive just on social media but hit the streets against the BJP government which was abusing its mandate in the most dangerous fashion.

Addressing a meeting of top party leaders from across the country, Gandhi also drew a roadmap for carrying out agitation against the Modi government's handling of the economy asking them to take to the streets between October 15-25.

“Our resolve and resilience is under severe test. We cannot afford to let our self-confidence and morale falter,” she said adding that the challenging times would show who were committed to party ideology and looked at the party as an opportunity for self-advancement.

Congress also decided to launch a membership drive and a training programme for party workers with an aim to reach out to the youth to educate them about true nationalism and secularism.

“It is not enough to be active and aggressive on the social media even though that too is needed and we need to do that better. Far more important is to go to the people directly,” she said in her opening remarks at the first big meeting after returning as Congress President on August 10.

Gandhi hit out at the Modi government and accused it of abusing the mandate it had received in the Lok Sabha elections by pursuing an agenda of political vendetta, subverting every institution and even appropriating icons such as B R Ambedkar, Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel and misrepresent their true message for their “nefarious ends”.

“The country is looking to us to confront and combat these forces...We must stand up fearlessly to fight on the streets, fight in villages, towns and cities. We must have a concrete agitational agenda on issues of pressing concern to the people – whether they be economic or social,” Gandhi said.

The meeting was attended by AICC General Secretaries, AICC Secretaries, Congress state unit chiefs, leaders of legislature parties besides former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior leader A K Antony. Interestingly, Rahul Gandhi did not attend the meeting.

She also wanted the Congress-ruled states to stand out as examples of sensitive and responsive governance, and accountable and transparent administration.