New Delhi, Nov. 2: Lavishing praise on the Prime Minister, Dr Manmohan Singh, at the AICC meeting here on Tuesday, the Congress general secretary, Mr Rahul Gandhi said: “It is only the poor people who can take the country forward. And if we have to take the poor people forward, the Prime Minister’s strategy for economic growth is a necessity. We have to work like the Prime Minsiter, who is giving economic growth to this country. That is exactly what we need.”
In her speech, the Congress president, Mrs Sonia Gandhi, made it clear that alliances and coalitions did not mean that the Congress was willing to concede space to others, in a subtle message to current and prospective allies ahead of Assembly elections in 10 states.
The message sent out by the one-day session, the AICC’s first after the party’s victory in the 2009 Lok Sabha elections, was to identify it with the poor in an effort to marginalise regional and caste-based parties such as the BSP, SP, JD(U), JD(S), RJD, TDP, BJD, Shiv Sena, MNS and the Dravidian outfits, which have of late occupied political space both in the Hindi heartland and in South India.
Mrs Gandhi sent out a clear signal to both current and prospective allies in her opening speech: “We made alliances with different parties at the Centre and in states. We do respect our allies. But it does not mean that we stop efforts to grow our organisation or to abdicate our political space.”
Promising food security to a majority of the population, Mrs Gandhi said: “We are in the process of drafting a new law that will guarantee food security.”
Both Mrs Gandhi and Dr Singh, who also addressed the meeting, talked about the Kashmir situation and inclusive growth and referred to the RSS' role in terror activities.