Sonia’s poll plank: ‘steady, soothing’

She also accused the NDA Government of failing ‘‘miserably on security’’ and jeopardizing the nation’s defences, from Kargil to Hill Kaka. She observed that ‘‘never before have terrorist attacks been so extensive and brazen’’ and used as a pretext to polarise society.

In her opening address at the Vichar Manthan Shivir here this morning, Sonia Gandhi made a frontal attack on the BJP-led NDA Government’s ‘‘many and comprehensive failures’’ over the past five years.

And referring to the talk of early elections, she declared that ‘‘the Congress stands fully prepared, stands ready at any time, this year or next’’ to face the polls. ‘‘I am convinced that the people of the country too would welcome an opportunity, sooner rather than later, to decisively reject the BJP-led NDA government,’’ she added.

The real import of the speech was its ideological content — the upcoming electoral contests against the BJP in four states and the Centre was placed squarely in the context of the much greater battle on what constitutes ‘‘the idea of India.’’ Asserting that the idea of India ‘‘should not be allowed to become narrow, parochial and filled with hate and bigotry’’, the Congress chief asked: ‘‘Who will live if this idea of India dies — of an India that is one and many at the same time.’’

Recalling the presidential address of Maulana Azad to the AICC session in 1940, she emphasized the concept of ‘‘a composite India’’ that received its ‘‘inner vitality and resilience’’ because of the unique confluence of faiths, cultures and beliefs.

Given the confusion within Congress ranks about the exact meaning of Hindutva, Sonia Gandhi carefully avoided the word but did assert that ‘‘Whatever the BJP, RSS, VHP and Bajrang Dal preach and propagate has nothing whatsoever to do with Hinduism and the liberal Hindu way of life. This deliberate distortion of Hinduism is part of their evil and cynical design.’’

Accusing these outfits of ‘‘injecting the poison of communalism into our entire education system’’, she also announced at the end of her speech that in order to combat this poison, she intended to set up a ‘‘Bapu Sadbhavna and Shiksha Trust’’ that will ‘‘give shape and direction to enlightenment and excellence in our education system based on values espoused by our founding fathers.’’

The important theme of the speech, which is likely to be repeated in the Shimla Sankalp at the end of the three-day meet, was that the Congress alone was capable of combating the ideological and political assault of the BJP.

The Congress was ‘‘unique’’, Sonia Gandhi said and listed all the reasons that make it unique — it remains the only national political force with a presence ‘‘in each and every region of this vast country’’; the only party that ‘‘can protect all of India’s religions from these merchants of hate’’; the only party that represented the ‘‘religious, linguistic, ethnic and regional diversity of our culture’’; whose policy of governance ‘‘is not captive to any dogma’’; which believes in a strong centre as well as vibrant local self-government institutions, and the only party that has placed the concerns of youth ‘‘at the core of its agenda.’’

The underlying subtext was clear: the Congress would no longer be apologetic about its amorphous, fluid and diffused middle path that had led to its erosion in face of the rise of the politics of religious, regional, caste, and ethnic identity over the past decade and more.

As during the national movement, the Congress is seeking once again to mean all things to all people and take everyone on board.

Over the next two days, the party will ‘‘brainstorm’’ on the actual tactics required to even partially reclaim lost ground and unfurl its old umbrella whose spokes broke a long time ago.

In her speech, Sonia attacked L K Advani (‘‘the only Home Minister chargesheeted while in office’’) for failing to come out with the promised White Paper on ISI activities in India. She remarked that depite Kargil, the Government remained negligent and referred to ‘‘the sad spectacle of Hill Kaka in the forest of Surankote where several hundred terrorist and militants had a clear run over a large area for quite some time.’’

Regarding national defence, she said almost Rs 24,000 crore from the defence budget for modernisation was not spent in the past three years, thus endangering the nation’s security. And the diversion of Rs 4200 crore raised from taxpayers as Kargil surcharge for other purposes ‘‘was a gross betrayal of the people of the country.’’

She also attacked the Government’s confused foreign policy and on the troops to Iraq issue reiterated that ‘‘without an explicit mandate of the United Nations which does not exist today, Indian troops must not be deployed.’’

While accusing the BJP-led Government of being a passive spectator ‘‘to the marginalisation of the United Nations and to the emergence of unilateralism’’, in keeping with the Congress’ own ambitions to rule from South Block, she refrained from attacking the US by name.