The extended Congress Working Committee (CWC), being held for the first time in Bihar since Independence, adopted a slew of resolutions on issues ranging from “vote chori” and the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar to India’s foreign policy on China and the USA.
The resolutions declared that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was “built on a stolen mandate and rigged voter lists,” while slamming India’s foreign policy on China and the US under Prime Minister Narendra Modi. The party also reiterated its “dire apprehensions” on the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar, describing it as “yet another dirty trick from the BJP’s toolkit to cling on to power.”
“A government built on stolen mandates and rigged voter lists has no moral or political legitimacy. It is not based on public trust but on deceit. In the absence of democratic accountability, the government is freed of any obligation to care about unemployment, farmer suicides, inflation, crumbling healthcare, ruined education and collapsing infrastructure. The government is apathetic because it knows it can remain in power not through service but through deceit and fear. ‘Vote chori’ is inseparable from attacks on the Constitution, economy, social justice, and national security. It is the single thread that exposes the regime’s illegitimacy and its actions. Their aim is clear: to disenfranchise the poor, workers, backward classes and minorities — the very people determined to oust the NDA from Bihar,” the resolution read.
Accusing the NDA government of “provoking communal tensions,” the CWC reiterated its commitment to “reclaiming the Republic, restoring the Constitution, and ensuring justice, dignity and equality for all.” It added: “The ruling party has consistently sought to perpetuate communal polarisation, deliberately creating hateful campaign material and engaging in the worst kind of rumor-mongering to demonise minorities. Dalits and Adivasis continue to face rampant and escalating violence, and systemic discrimination.”
Referring to the recently concluded Voter Adhikar Yatra by Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, the resolution called it “a firm pledge that the Congress would never give up its fight for those who have been oppressed and marginalised by the BJP.” It further said, “The days of the corrupt, incompetent and authoritarian government are numbered. The Bihar election will seal its fate.” It also hailed Gandhi for “boldly exposing the shameless ‘vote chori’ and bravely fighting the BJP’s brazen attempts to subvert democracy”.
Emphasising that the extended CWC met in Patna at a time when the people of Bihar were preparing to free themselves from the NDA’s misrule, the resolution also flagged the “misuse” of central agencies, saying they had been “reduced to blunt instruments of political vendetta and were being deployed against anyone who challenges Modi’s rule. “Every institution of democracy and justice has been diminished, with the state becoming subservient to the interests of the ruling party and its RSS allies,” it said.
The resolution further appreciated the Revanth Reddy-led Telangana government for “boldly becoming the first state in the country to implement 42% reservation for OBCs in local bodies in challenging times”.
Pointing out that the future of the youth was jeopardised due to question papers of 80 major examinations being leaked since Modi first assumed power in 2014, the resolution questioned the Centre and BJP-ruled states on education and unemployment. It also accused the Modi government of “deliberately pursuing policies that favour the PM’s closest friends even as inequality had risen to shameful levels”. “Farmers, already burdened with debt, repeated natural calamities, shortage of fertilisers and rising prices of agricultural supplies, are systematically being driven to suicides as they continue to be denied adequate central assistance. Instead of extending a helping hand to the states, the government has cynically withheld GST compensation, treating non-NDA states with stepmotherly bias. To make matters worse, the slashing of MGNREGA budgets has pushed millions of India’s poorest citizens deeper into destitution,” it read.
Attacking the Modi government’s foreign policy on China and the US, the resolution said, “Successive governments since Independence have closely guarded our country’s strategic autonomy, which is now being squandered as the government mindlessly oscillates between appeasing the US and tilting towards China. Trump announced steep tariffs on Indian exports to the US — wreaking havoc on key industries that employ millions of our workers. Now, lakhs of Indian citizens find their future in the US at risk because of the Trump administration’s hostile changes to the H1-B visa policy. The government’s attempt to address this crisis with its recent reactionary tilt towards Beijing is a cure worse than the disease. China poses major threats to our territorial integrity, national security, and economic prosperity.”
It also said that the strategic alignment of traditional allies like Maldives, Myanmar, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh towards China “spells disaster for our national interests”.