“Great damage” has been done over the last 12 years to the fabric of India, democracy and institutions, Congress Parliamentary Party Chairperson Sonia Gandhi has alleged, asserting that even after the Modi government goes, it will take time to restore the country’s systems back to health.
“But I am optimistic and I know that the people of India will welcome a return to proper governance,” the former Congress chief said.
“Over the last twelve years great damage has been done to the fabric of our country, our democracy and our institutions. Consider that the Congress party and other opposition parties have not had a level playing field since this government came to power. But there are many ways that people succeed in politics within the Congress party, take for example Dr. Manmohan Singh and Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge. I don’t think we have much to learn from the RSS. That has never crossed my mind. Our experience was by and large a very positive one. We worked as a team, and our roles were distinct, with him (Singh) leading the government and I leading the party.
On whether she wonders how UPA policies and Congress strategy might have differed had she accepted to become prime minister in 2004, Gandhi said, “No, not at all. The memoir also delves into political events surrounding the Congress-led alliance’s victory in the 2004 elections, when Sonia Gandhi declined to become prime minister and instead led the party and its alliance, which governed India for a decade.
Even after this government goes, it will take time to restore our systems back to health and great effort from political parties,” she said. Asked about the decline of the Congress and her assessment of its present condition and prospects, Gandhi said, “I am not so pessimistic. “What is more, it has been amply proved in recent months that many elections have been stolen, and people are now more aware of it,” she alleged. “The Congress is working with like-minded parties, and our prospects are improving day by day,” she said. On Prime Minister Narendra Modi and what lessons the Congress should draw from his rise, Gandhi said, “It’s true that he comes from a very different ideological world. Several Congress leaders had raised issues of governmental pressure and freedom of expression with some alleging that there was pressure on Penguin India to remove sections relating to Prime Minister Modi, the RSS and China’s “occupation” of Indian territory during the Modi regime.
