Congress is opposed to fundamentalism of all shades: Sonia Gandhi

NEW DELHI - Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Sunday said the party is opposed to fundamentalism of all shades-whether by majority or minority organisations.

Addressing the party’s 83rd plenary session at Burari in northwest Delhi, Gandhi said: Congress is opposed to fundamentalism of all shades. Both are dangerous and should be tackled.”

She also said Congress needs to stick to its core values and needs to focus on its weaknesses as it is facing many challenges.

“Our party has seen many ups and downs, many challenges. We can look back with pride. It is important for us to introspect the inheritance we have got, how far have we stayed steady on it,” she said.

“We have to pay attention to our weaknesses also, which are visible from time to time, she added.

She said Congress would hold brainstorming sessions soon on the lines of Pachmarhi and Shimla in the past.

“I think the complaint of Congress workers in states ruled by the Opposition parties that Union ministers are not paying attention to their grievances is correct,” she added.

She further said the party has to carry forward the legacy handed over to it by its past leaders.

“Today we are concluding 125 years of our party. For the last one decade, our party has seen many victories and defeats, we have faced lots of challenges… To face the future, we have to show a strong will power. We can look back at our past proudly. We have been very fortunate,” she said.

“But it is also important that we do lots of introspection to carry on with the legacy. This is the objective of the plenary session,” she added.

She also said in states where the Congress was in power in alliance with others, ‘it was the responsibility (of party leaders) to ensure that the party organisation is heeded first and seriously attended to and wherever necessary steps should be taken’.

Talking on the recently completed Bihar assembly polls, she said: “We have made it very clear that the party has to be built from the ground and grassroots. Ther are no easy routes, no shortcuts.”

In her speech, Gandhi named the contributions of Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Lal Bahadur Shastri, Indira Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi and PV Narasimha Rao. (ANI)