Congress' Chintan Shivir: Sonia Gandhi slams Modi govt says minorities being 'brutalised'

New Delhi, May 13: At Congress' Chintan Shivir, Congress president Sonia Gandhi slammed the Modi government over 'maximum governance, minimum government' means keeping the country in a permanent state of polarisation, "brutalising" minorities and "threatening" political opponents.

In her inaugural address at the party's 'Chintan Shivir' here, she urged delegates to deliberate with an open mind and send out a clear message of strong organisation and unity. She also said that the 'Nav Sankalp Chintan Shivir' gives the party "an opportunity to discuss amongst us the numerous challenges that the country is facing as a result of the policies of the BJP, RSS and its affiliates."

She said the Shivir is also an occasion to deliberate on the many challenges ahead of us and bring organisational changes.

"It is both 'Chintan' about national issues and meaningful 'aatmachintan' (self-introspection) about our party organisation," she said.

Gandhi charged that it has become "painfully clear" what Prime Minister Modi and his colleagues really meany by their frequently used slogan of maximum governance, minimum government.

"It means keeping the country in a permanent state of polarisation, compelling people to stay in a constant state of fear and insecurity. It means viciously targeting, victimising and brutalising minorities who are an integral part of our society and equal citizens of our republic," she charged.

"It means using our societies age old pluralities to divide us and subverting a carefully nurtured idea of unity and diversity. It means threatening and intimidating political opponents, maligning their reputation, jailing them on flimsy pretexts using investigative agencies" Gandhi further alleged.

She urged party leaders to keep the organisation above personal ambitions, saying the party has given us a lot and it's time to pay back.

Noting that changes in organisation are the need of the hour, she said, "We need to change the way of our working".

The Shivir will focus on time-bound party restructuring, finding ways to combat politics of polarisation and getting battle-ready for upcoming electoral challenges.

It will begin Friday afternoon following which over 400 delegates will discuss subject-specific issues across six groups.

These discussions will continue on the first and second day and the conclusions will be recorded in the form of a declaration, a draft of which will be discussed at the CWC meeting to be held there on the third and last day.