Govt of stolen mandate has no legitimacy: Congress at CWC meet

Setting the tone for its Bihar Assembly polls campaign, the Congress on Wednesday mounted a multi-pronged attack on the BJP over alleged "vote chori (theft)", special intensive revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and increasing "economic distress", asserting that the upcoming elections will mark the beginning of the end of the government's "corrupt rule".

The Opposition party also slammed the Centre over its foreign policy, alleging that Prime Minister Narendra Modi's "huglomacy" has backfired, leaving India "diplomatically isolated and unable to secure its national interests".

The assertions were made at an over four-hour meeting of the extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) at the party's Sadaqat Ashram headquarters in Patna, the first meeting of the party's highest decision-making body in Bihar in the post-independence era.

Two resolutions — one political and the other an appeal to voters of Bihar — were passed at the CWC meeting chaired by Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and attended by former party chief Rahul Gandhi, treasurer Ajay Maken, general secretaries K.C. Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh and Sachin Pilot, and Bihar Congress chief Rajesh Kumar, among others.

Congress parliamentary party chief Sonia Gandhi could not attend the meeting as she was not feeling well, while AICC general-secretary and her daughter Priyanka Gandhi Vadra stayed back to take care of her, according to party leaders.

Sources said senior leader Shashi Tharoor also could not make it for the meeting as he fell ill last evening.

In his opening address at the meeting, Kharge said the BJP has "mentally retired" Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and considers him a "liability", while claiming that the upcoming Assembly elections will mark the beginning of the end of the Modi government's "corrupt rule" at the Centre.

He launched a frontal attack on the BJP over a host of issues such as "vote chori, economic slowdown, unemployment, social polarisation and targeting and weakening of autonomous constitutional institutions".

Instead of answering questions on the revelations from various states, the EC is demanding affidavits from us, Kharge said.

Following the example of Bihar, a conspiracy is now being hatched across the country to remove the votes of millions of people, the Congress president said, referring to the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls in Bihar.

Vote theft means theft of rations, pensions, medicine, children's scholarships, and exam fees belonging to Dalits, tribals, backward classes, extremely backward classes, minorities, the weak, and the poor, he said.

Focusing on Bihar, Kharge said, "Internal strife within the NDA alliance is now openly visible. Nitish Kumar has been mentally retired by the BJP. The BJP now considers him a liability."

"The 2025 Assembly elections will prove to be a milestone not only for Bihar but for the entire country. This will mark the beginning of the countdown and the end of the corrupt rule of the Modi government," he said.

The Congress ramped up its attack on the Modi government and the Election Commission over the "vote chori" issue and SIR of electoral rolls in Bihar.

In its political resolution, the CWC said a government built on "stolen mandates" and "rigged voter lists" has no moral or political legitimacy, and claimed that the "conspiracy" of SIR was another "dirty trick" from the BJP's toolkit to manipulate electoral rolls to cling on to power.

Addressing a press conference after the meeting, Congress general-secretary (communications) Jairam Ramesh said in the next one month, Gandhi will come out with more revelations on "vote chori" which would be akin to "hydrogen bomb", "mini hydrogen bomb", "uranium bomb" and "plutonium bomb".

"This is just the beginning. The revelations related to Mahadevapura and Aland in Karnataka are just the beginning, and there is a long story in this motion about the vote-stealing campaign," he said.

A campaign to collect 5 crore signatures against "vote chori" was launched from September 15 and will continue till October 15th, and these 5 crore signatures will be submitted to the Election Commission, he said.

In the political resolution, the CWC said the Election Commission of India, long the cornerstone of our vibrant democracy, has been turned into a "servile mouthpiece for the government".

"'Vote chori' and irregularities in our electoral rolls have shaken public belief in the very foundations of our democracy. The CWC resolved to salute Rahul Gandhi for boldly exposing the shameless 'vote chori' and bravely fighting these brazen attempts to subvert democracy," the resolution said.

"This exposes the systematic and deliberate conspiracy used to manufacture an elected majority for the BJP. A government built on stolen mandates and rigged voter lists has no moral or political legitimacy," the resolution said.

In its appeal to Bihar voters, the CWC urged the people to recognize the power of their vote.

The Congress Working Committee declared that the conspiracy of the special intensive revision of voter rolls is the "greatest threat to our democracy today".

"As evident in Bihar, this process has been designed to systematically rob citizens from marginalized communities like Dalits, OBCs, Adivasis, and Minorities of their Right to Vote," the CWC said.

"This disenfranchisement through the attack on the Right to Vote will culminate in snatching away their rights in government welfare schemes as well as their constitutionally guaranteed reservations. When the vote of the people is stolen, their future, their dignity, and their constitutional entitlements are stolen along with it," it said.

Terming the NDA government in Bihar "note chor", the Congress also said corruption and crime have proven to be the two real engines of the so-called "double engine sarkar" in the state.

Meanwhile, Congress leaders parried questions on the reported reluctance of the party to declare Tejashwi Yadav as the chief ministerial face of the Mahagathbandhan. However, party leader Pawan Khera said that when the sun is shining bright in the sky, one does not need to declare it, and Sachin Pilot asserted that all decisions will be taken at the right time.

In its political resolution, the CWC said it is profoundly worried by the "collapse" of India's foreign policy.

"Prime Minister Modi's 'huglomacy' has backfired: far from boosting India's standing, it has left India diplomatically isolated and unable to secure its national interests," it said.

Gandhi also slammed Modi and said foreign policy is not conducted on the basis of personal friendships, according to sources.

Speaking during the meeting in Patna, Gandhi alleged that the Modi government had caused a "collapse" of Indian foreign policy. He said the prime minister should stand up to Trump and keep India's national interest at the forefront, according to the sources.

Earlier, Kharge took a swipe at Modi and said the very friends whom he boasts about as "my friends" are today putting India in numerous troubles.

The Congress also said economic devastation wrought by the Centre has plunged crores of Indians into despair, even as the Modi government "attempts to manipulate data to create the image of a booming economy".

In Bihar, Gandhi also reached out to the numerically powerful extremely backward classes (EBCs) of Bihar, promising, among other things, a law for protection against atrocities, on the lines of the SC/ST Act, if the INDIA bloc came to power in the state.

Gandhi's aggressive EBC outreach, days ahead of the announcement of assembly polls, came at an event titled, 'Ati Pichhda Nyay Sankalp'.