Our Sardar: Congress resolution invokes Patel’s legacy, says will walk path lit by him

Taking the fight to Prime Minister Narendra Modi in his own backyard, the extended session of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) in Ahmedabad today passed a resolution that the party will follow Sardar Patel’s principles.

“Today, the ideology of violence and communalism is pushing the country into an abyss of hatred, based on the divisions of religious polarisation,” said the resolution, titled “Flagbearer of freedom movement — Our Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel”.

Emphasising its claim on Patel’s legacy, the resolution stated, “Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge and proponent of social justice, our leader Rahul Gandhi, as also millions of Congress workers, are even more determined today to walk on the ‘nyaypath’ in our struggle for the protection of the Constitution as also our democracy. The path shown by Sardar Patel is this very path.”

“We stand committed to walking on the path lit by Sardar Patel, imbibe his thoughts and reshape our present and future with his vision and thoughts. This will be the fittest tribute to the life and work of iron man Sardar Patel,” the resolution said.

The resolution also noted various contemporary issues such as the ongoing agitation by farmers and the opposition to delimitation by southern states, arguing how these issues were a blow to Patel’s legacy.

The CWC meeting — held on the premises of Sardar Patel National Memorial — also passed two political resolutions pertaining to the situation in Gujarat and the country, respectively. Details of these two resolutions will be made public tomorrow after these are ratified by the AICC.

The meeting, attended by Kharge, Sonia Gandhi and Rahul among others, also discussed revamping the organisational structure of the party and empowering the district congress committees.

Rahul Gandhi, who wants the party to put up a good show in the Assembly elections in Gujarat in 2027, played a key role in bringing the resolution at the CWC meeting.

It will be followed by a meeting of the AICC in Ahmedabad tomorrow.

The ruling BJP at the Centre and PM Modi have taken “several initiatives to appropriate the legacy” of Vallabhbhai Patel despite the fact that Patel was all along a Congress leader and remained the Home Minister and the Deputy Prime Minister in the Nehru-led Cabinet.

Modi has often talked about “injustice” to Gujarati “asmita” (pride of identity) and has attacked the Congress for ignoring the contribution of Patel, who was a Gujarati. Modi, a native of Gujarat, has periodically accused the Congress of sidelining Patel so that Nehru could become the PM.

Ever since coming to power at the Centre in 2014, the BJP has taken multiple steps to put the spotlight on Patel’s legacy. Soon after Modi was first sworn in as the PM, the Centre declared October 31, the birth anniversary of Patel, as National Unity Day to mark Patel’s efforts to bring the various erstwhile princely states within the Indian Union.

In 2018, a 182-metre-high statue of Sardar Patel — the world’s tallest statue — was installed near Sardar Sarovar Dam in Gujarat.

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