Emphasising its claim on the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the Congress on Tuesday vowed to follow the principles of the country's first home minister to defeat divisive forces and accused the Bharatiya Janata Party of 'lying' as well as spreading 'propaganda' that he and Jawaharlal Nehru had strained ties.
At an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting, the party passed a resolution to mark the 150th birth anniversary year of Patel and said it is determined to emulate the resoluteness of the 'Iron Man of India' by fighting the frenzy of religious polarisation.
"Today, the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarisation," said the resolution titled 'Flag-bearer of freedom movement- Our Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel'.
The Congress is determined to follow the life principles of Sardar Patel to defeat the forces of animosity and division, as also exposing the fake news factory of these elements, it said.
"We are giving a strong message to national politics," Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh said after the meeting.
"The ideology of make-believe confrontation and mischievously professed division had led to the spreading of a deliberate web of lies of conflict between Sardar Patel and Pandit (Jawaharlal) Nehru. In reality, it was an attack on the very ethos of our freedom struggle and the inseparable leadership of Gandhi-Nehru-Patel," the resolution further said.
Therefore, 'once again, the Congress is determined to emulate the resoluteness of 'Iron Man' Sardar Patel by fighting the frenzy of religious polarization,' the resolution said.
"The cobweb of deceit and deception couldn't sustain, for Sardar Patel himself wrote to Pandit Nehru on 3 August 1947 and unequivocally stated, 'Our attachment and affection for each other and our comradeship for an unbroken period of nearly 30 years admit of no formalities... Our combination is unbreakable and therein lies our strength'," the resolution said.
Today, the forces of animosity and division seek to undermine this very spirit of camaraderie and bonhomie, said the resolution.
"Therefore, once again, Congress is determined to follow the life principles of Sardar Patel to defeat the forces of animosity and division, as also exposing the fake news factory of these elements," the resolution said.
Briefing reporters after the extended Congress Working Committee meeting at the Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel National Memorial here, Ramesh said the session is significant as it comes at a time when the country is celebrating the 150th birth Anniversary of Sardar Vallabh Patel.
"It was our duty to hold the CWC meeting at the Sardar Patel National Memorial and we are giving a message to national politics. The first line in the Constitution's Preamble talks about social, political and economic justice and the resolutions will reflect the Congress agenda related to that," he said.
Ramesh said the Working Committee meeting being held in Gujarat sends a strong message.
"The resolution makes it clear the relationship Patel and Nehru shared. There was a unique 'jugalbandi'. They were builders of modern India who fought for the independence of the country and laid the foundations of modern India. Those who say Nehru and Patel had strained ties are lying, speaking untruths and misleading people," he said.
"This is wrong propaganda. The truth is that in shaping the Constitution, in laying the foundation of modern India, and in the Indian freedom struggle, Vallabhbhai Patel ji and Nehru ji had a unique bond and this jugalbandi was beneficial for the country," Ramesh said.
He also said that the way farmers and their organisations are being treated and their demands related to MSP legal guarantee are being ignored is an 'insult of Patel'.
Earlier, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge accused the BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh of trying to usurp Patel's legacy under a 'well-planned conspiracy' against national heroes and said it is laughable as the Sangh Parivar had 'no contribution' to the freedom struggle.
He alleged that the BJP and RSS conspired to show that Patel and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru were against each other even though the two leaders enjoyed cordial ties and were 'two sides of the same coin'.
He said that Patel's ideology was contrary to the ideas of the RSS and he had even banned the organisation.
"But it is laughable that today the people of that organisation claim Sardar Patel's legacy," Kharge said attacking the BJP and RSS, which have often maintained that the Congress did not give Patel the respect he deserved.
In the resolution on Patel, the party said the inspiration for the battle of ideologies is Sardar Patel and the foundation lies in the thought process of Mahatma Gandhi and Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru.
"Drawing Inspiration from Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel stepped into the thick of the freedom movement in the year 1918 by leading the farmers' agitation in Kheda, Gujarat against the tax extortion by the British.
"Thereafter, Sardar Patel launched the 'Bardoli Satyagrah' in the year 1928 against the cruel and illegitimate levy on farmers by the Britishers. His energetic and charismatic leadership during the 'Bardoli Andolan' gave him a new recognition of 'Sardar'," he said.
"The BJP government of today emulates the cruel British policies against the farmers - be it bringing an ordinance to whittle down 'the Right to Fair Compensation Law' for the acquisition of land, the three Anti-Agriculture 'Black Laws' to enslave the farmers or the blocking the path of farmers by digging up roads and putting up spikes and wedges," the resolution said.
It alleged 'betrayal of the farmers by reneging on the solemn promise of an MSP guarantee law or crushing the farmers in Lakhimpur Kheri under the jeeps of BJP leaders as a revenge for demanding justice'.
Therefore, once again, the Congress is ready to tread the path of struggle shown by Sardar Patel for the rights of the farmers, it said.
The Congress also said it is determined to tread upon the path of Sardar Patel of reclaiming the spirit of India by 'Shed Hatred-Unite India'.
"The BJP government of today has unleashed a sinister agenda to trample upon the rights of our striving workers and labourers, be it the assault on MGNREGA or designed weakening of India's labour laws," the resolution alleged.
So much so, that fundamental rights of the people are being 'bulldozed with impunity', it alleged.
"Therefore, once again, the Congress Party resolves to walk the path of Sardar Patel by fighting for the rights of our workers and labourers," it said.
The forces opposed to the foundational principles of 'truth and non-violence' and also against the freedom struggle personify the same violent ideology that murdered Mahatma Gandhi, it said.
"Nathuram Godse was indoctrinated by this very perverted ideology. On the other hand, India's first Deputy Prime Minister and Home Minister, Sardar Patel believed that the ideology of 'violence and communalism' is inimical to national interests.
"It was Sardar Patel, who banned the RSS on 4 February 1948 after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi," the resolution said.
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