Sonia’s speech at INC plenary session: goofs, lies and a subtle admission

Same old rhetoric by a dejected Congress Party – The Gandhi family continued to be the nemesis of the Indian National Congress with the latest goof up in the Congress Plenary Session yesterday. The only exception being that this time around it was not the president of Congress, Rahul Gandhi, who made a mockery out of his own tribe, but his mother Sonia Gandhi. Sonia’s speech in her typical European accent at the Plenary Session yesterday was full of blunders, hypocrisy and desperate rhetoric that no longer affect public sentiments. It was rife with unsubstantiated claims of the Modi Government being corrupt to the core or the extinguishing of social welfare schemes initiated by the Congress.

The social media went into an overdrive when, instead of saying “Indira ji ki shaandaar jeet ne desh ki rajniti ko badalkar rakh diya”, it appeared as if Sonia Gandhi said “Indira ji ki shaandaar jeet ne desh ki rajniti ka bala*tkar rakh diya”.

Sonia’s speech at the Congress plenary session otherwise, was laced with inconsistencies and a deceptive show of strength by a party which has already been done and dusted. One of the most blatant lies of the Congress Party, reiterated by Sonia, was that under Manmohan Singh’s governance, economic growth was at its highest. This is false and misleading on all accounts. India’s economic growth faltered under the UPA regime. While it inherited a healthy GDP growth rate of over 8% from the previous NDA regime, it took down the GDP growth rate to a sluggish 4.5% in 2012-13.  

The party also moved a resolution at the event, and referred to the apprehensions among political parties over the misuse of Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs). Therefore, just like other sore losers in Indian politics, the Congress Party has made a naïve attempt to shift the blame for a string of defeats on the EVMs. The demand of going back to ballot papers is totally unjustified on their part, because the Congress managed to cobble up a government after the 2004 and the 2009 general elections despite voting taking place on EVMs. Similarly, Amrinder Singh won in Punjab even though EVMs were used. If the Congress Party is trying to contend that EVMs are faulty or manipulated, they must accept that their victories, however rare they may be, are also farcical.

Most of the rhetoric during the Congress Plenary Session might have been harmless, but there was something inherently dangerous to national interest which was featured. It was a note from the State of Palestine congratulating the Congress Party, which was also shared by the grand old party on its official Twitter handle.

The note not only spoke of the Congress Party’s contribution to the Palestinian struggle, but also seems to have requested the Congress Party to use its political influence to advise the government. That sentence appears to have been crossed manually but the connivance between Palestine and the Congress Party seems to be out in the open. What this anecdote unfortunately suggests is that political interests for the dying Congress Party are supreme, and it can go to any extent in order to ensure its survival. This only adds to how Mani Shankar Aiyar had sought Pakistan’s help to defeat the BJP. The note is not a mere congratulatory comment but it actively urges the Congress Party to ensure that “Palestinian People are able to live in an independent and sovereign state of Palestine with Jerusalem as its Capital”. This could give rise to misunderstandings with Israel, which is one of India’s major strategic partners across all fields.

The Congress Party is a sinking ship. The party, along with certain political commentators who are traditionally inclined towards them, has kept asserting since 2014 that it will rise again and become politically relevant. Let alone occupying a dominant space in Indian politics, it has failed to match up to the BJP in any domain. The best it is able to achieve is playing second fiddle to major regional players, and it is only falling further. Sonia’s speech at the Congress plenary session was nothing but another set of false promises and assurances of an ever-elusive Congress revival. Sonia Gandhi’s shakiness, her weak attacks on PM Modi and the resolution against EVM Machines were telltale signs of the fear of losing another general election.