AHMEDABAD: Sachin Pilot and Shashi Tharoor got the pride of place at the AICC session here. While the Rajasthan leader was given the opportunity to place the party’s resolution before the massive gathering with a speech, the Kerala MP and diplomat-turned-politician Tharoor got the prime place of seconding the resolution. MP and AICC general secretary Randeep Surjewala conducted the long session.
Speaking after the presidential speech of Mallikarjun Kharge, Pilot presented a summary of the resolution, detailing “what is nationalism for Congress”, delineating the difference between the inclusive ethos of Congress and divisive ideology of RSS-BJP. He also spoke about the attack on the Constitution and the need to defend it.
Tharoor lauded the Congress’s good Lok Sabha poll results but expressed disappointment of defeat in the recent assembly elections. Urging that the party win back the votes it has lost after 2009, he said it can be done only through constructive criticism and not by unrelenting negativity. He said Congress has an illustrious history but the “young voters who are a majority today, do not give much importance to history, and want to know what we will do for them today and what kind of tomorrow we can give them. Our resolution will be judged by that and that is what we must focus on.”
“Congress must be a party of hope, not of resentment. Of positivity and not just negativism. Of the future and not just the past, and of positive narrative and not just criticism,” he said.