HIGHLIGHTS

? She said she was convinced Congress’s defeat in 2014 was an aberration

? She urged the party to be ready for the national elections

? “Reality is different,” she said on PM Modi’s offensive against Congress

NEW DELHI (TIP): Launching an all-out attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Narendra Modi government, former Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Feb 8 said she would work with “like-minded political parties” to ensure its defeat in the next general elections.

Addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party, of which she is the chairperson, Sonia alleged that the government was orchestrating violence against minorities to polarise society for narrow political gains.

She added that this would also be seen in Karnataka, which goes to the polls in a few months.

Sonia told party MPs to work with dedication, loyalty and enthusiasm, asking them to work with new party president Rahul Gandhi to strengthen the party.

She added that Rahul is also her boss. “We have elected a new Congress president and on your behalf and on my own, I wish him all the very best. He is now my boss too — let there be no doubt about that — and I know that all of you will work with him with the same dedication, loyalty and enthusiasm as you did with me,” she said.

“I am confident that we will work cohesively under his leadership to revive our party’s fortunes. That process has begun,” she said.

However, News18 reported that a section of the old guard in Congress was reluctant to deal with Rahul for political negotiations.

Congress’ call for a metting of Opposition parties ahead of the Budget Session was also met with a lacklustre response from non-BJP parties, the report said.

“It has been almost four years since this government came to power, this has been a period in which institutions which have come under systematic assault — Parliament itself, judiciary, media and civil society.

Investigative agencies have been let loose against political opponents,” The Indian Express quoted Sonia as saying.

“The minorities feel unsafe and are being subjected to barbarous attacks. Dalits have come under renewed and widespread atrocities, as have women. In many cases, this violence, especially against minorities and Dalits, is not sporadic or random, but orchestrated to polarise our society for narrow political gains. We saw this both in Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat. We will no doubt see it again in Karnataka. Such polarisation is criminal in a democracy, yet those in power look the other way,” NDTV further quoted her as saying.