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Leadership's 'big brotherly' attitude affected Congress chances: Pawar

Senior Congress leader Sharad Pawar today said the party leadership should come to terms with the changed political scenario in the country and should not hesitate in clinching alliance with like-minded parties.

Pawar, who seconded the political resolution at the All India Congress Committee session, said the party had failed to tie-up with some parties in some states. This led to the division of secular votes, benefitting the Bharatiya Janata Party and its allies.

''We went alone in some states, thus divided the votes and helped the BJP,'' he said.

Pawar was candid enough to admit that the Congress leadership's 'big brotherly' attitude obstructed the party's alliance with some political parties.

''In the changed political situation, the Congress must have a tie-up with other parties but no alliance should be at the cost of the party's prestige and credibility.''

Pawar also laid more emphasis on building the party's organisational network. He said the party leadership had to analyse how the Congress, which was a strong force in Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Tamil Nadu and Punjab till the other day, had faced massive erosion in its support base.

''We have to rebuild our base in these states and recapture our glorious past,'' he told the delegates.

For this, he said, the party leaders had to take issues to the grassroots and distinguish between the real party worker and those taking rounds of the party headquarters at Delhi.

Pawar accused the BJP of having had a 'hidden agenda' for promoting Hindutva and quoted the BJP manifesto to illustrate that the latter was committed to rewrite the Indian history for implementing the Rashtriya Swayam Sewak Sangh ideology. It will also undermine the Independence movement by highlighting the 'positive role' of people like Nathuram Godse, Mahatma Gandhi's assassin, he said.

He said the BJP had thrown into the dustbin all its earlier pronouncements of bringing about a corruption-free regime by aligning with former Union minister Sukh Ram, indicted in the multi-million rupee telecom scam, in Himachal Pradesh.

UNI

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