Party must promote 'staunch Congress persons' to win polls: Gaurav Gogoi

Congress leader Gaurav Gogoi (Courtesy: PTI photo)

Congress’ deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Gaurav Gogoi, on Wednesday said that if the party wants to win upcoming polls, it must promote “staunch Congress persons” who have remained in the party despite threats and enticements.

Addressing the AICC session on the banks of the Sabarmati River, Gogoi recalled that when Rahul Gandhi recently toured Gujarat, he had said that those who have one foot in Congress and the other in some other party should be identified and expelled from Congress.

"If we are to win the assembly elections in the coming time, then such staunch Congress persons should be brought forward -- those who have remained associated with Congress despite every threat or enticement," Gogoi said.

"I am fully confident that if we bring forward staunch Congress persons, we will win every assembly election," he added during the discussion on two resolutions at the session here.

Gogoi also alleged that the BJP runs its organisation like a private limited company, while the Congress functions like a family.

"We are like a family, and therefore I urge state leaders to take care of workers like a family," he said.

The Ahmedabad session, themed "Nyaypath: Sankalp, Samarpan aur Sangharsh," is being attended by more than 1,700 elected and co-opted AICC members.

This comes a day after an extended Congress Working Committee (CWC) met here to finalise the session’s agenda and discuss the resolutions to be passed in detail.

Countering the BJP’s high-pitched campaign of invoking nationalist figures to rally support, the Congress on Tuesday asserted its claim on the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, India’s first deputy prime minister, whose path it pledged to follow in the “ideological war” with the BJP-RSS.