Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on Tuesday responded on the Congress’ tie up with Muslim organizations like the All India United Democratic Front (IUDF) and Indian Secular Front (ISF). Gandhi is on second-day of her Assam visit and has been campaigning in Assam for the upcoming assembly elections.
Priyanka Gandhi was asked about the party being accused of aligning with outfits like Badruddin Ajmal’s All India United Democratic Front (AIUDF) in Assam and the Indian Secular Front (ISF) in Bengal.
Referring to comments made yesterday, the Congress general secretary said West Bengal Congress chief has already responded to those comments but what is being fought for in Assam is Assam itself. It is the identity of Assamese people, the Assamese state.
Refusing to comment on the dissidents, known as the Congress’ G-23, who have been publicly questioning the party, Gandhi said there are differences between ideologies. The Congress may not agree 100% with what alliance partners believe. Congress is with IUDF and ISF in this fight because everybody understands today it is a fight to save Assam.
The rift within the Congress party is widening after a group of dissident leaders known as the Congress’ G-23 raised apprehension on the functioning of the party. The rift was rather fueled after two Congressmen- Senior leader Anand Sharma and Adhir Ranjan Choudhury, President of West Bengal Pradesh Congress Committee engaged in a war of tweets. The Congress veteran leader Anand Sharma yesterday openly questioned the party’s Bengal chief Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury over the tie-up with cleric Abbas Siddique’s ISF, accused by some of being communal.
Slamming the party on Monday, Sharma in a tweet wrote Congress’ alliance with parties like ISF and other such forces is against the core ideology of the party. Addressing Choudhary in his tweet, he said Congress cannot be selective in fighting communalists but must do so in all its manifestations, irrespective of religion and colour.
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Priyanka Gandhi said the Congress had put up a strong, united campaign in Assam and every worker now understands this is not a Congress vs BJP election. It is an Assam identity vs RSS-BJP ideology election. On the Congress’s organizational challenges, Gandhi said every general secretary in every state was working hard.