Udaipur: Almost 80 years after the call for ‘Bharat Chhodo’ or ‘Quit India’ against the British colonialists, Congress on Sunday gave the call of ‘Bharat Jodo’ or ‘Unite India’, as Party President Sonia Gandhi announced a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, beginning on Gandhi Jayanti (October 2) this year. Party President Sonia Gandhi, in her valedictory remarks at the end of the three-day-long ‘Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir’, said the Congress will overcome, and have a new rise. “We will overcome. That is our determination. That is our Nav Sankalp. Congress will have a new Uday. “We will launch a national Kanyakumari to Kashmir Bharat Jodo Yatra, beginning on Gandhi Jayanti this year. All of us will participate in it. The Yatra is to strengthen the bonds of social harmony that are under stress, to preserve the foundational values of our Constitution that are under assault and to highlight the day-to-day concerns of crores of our people,” said the Congress president. The Udaipur Declaration of the party said, “Exactly 80 years ago, in 1942, Mahatma Gandhi gave the slogan “Bharat Chhodo”. In 2022, the slogan for the country is – “Bharat Jodo”! This is the ‘new resolution’ of Udaipur!” The Congress President also announced that second phase of district-level ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’, which had been launched earlier, will resume from June 15. “This extensive campaign will highlight economic issues, especially the growing unemployment and intolerable price rise that is destroying livelihoods,” she said. A compact Task Force will be set up to drive the process of internal reforms in Congress, and these reforms will focus on the 2024 Lok Sabha polls covering all aspects of the organisation, including structure, rules for appointments to party posts, communications and publicity, outreach, finances and election management. The composition of the Task Force will be notified in the next two-three days, said the Congress President. “I have also decided to have an advisory group drawn from the CWC that would meet regularly under my chairpersonship to discuss and deliberate upon political issues and challenges before our party. Of course, we do have the CWC that meets from time to time and that will continue. “The new group is not, however, a collective decision-making body but will help me get the benefit of the vast experience of senior colleagues. It too will be notified very soon,” she announced. The Congress President also added a “personal note” to her concluding remarks. She said, “Last night, I came away from the dinner so graciously hosted by Ashok Gehlot-ji, feeling that I had spent the evening with my family. I was touched when some of the younger guests shared the same view. I hope that this is the spirit, in which we will disperse this evening.” The three-day Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir ended here today. A series of announcements have been made by the party for organisational reforms, and for outreach to the masses. UNI AO RJ
