Congress President Sonia Gandhi with party Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi paying tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 25th death anniversary, at his memorial 'Vir Bhumi' in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)
Congress President Sonia Gandhi with party Vice President Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi paying tributes to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on his 25th death anniversary, at his memorial 'Vir Bhumi' in New Delhi. (Photo: PTI)
After facing electoral reversals in state elections, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday sought to lift the morale of the party workers by asserting that “no failure is permanent”.
“A success achieved by discarding basic principles does not stay for long. If one sticks to principles, no failure is permanent,” Mrs Gandhi said, while addressing party workers at a programme to commemorate the 25th death anniversary of her husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.
Her remarks came in the backdrop of the Congress losing power in Assam and Kerala. Senior Congress leader Digvijay Singh, after the May 19 verdict, had sought “surgery” within the party, while claiming that enough introspection had been done in the past.
The Congress president stressed on social harmony on the occasion of the death anniversary of her husband. “We have to compensate for each drop of Rajiv’s blood on Indian soil by promoting and strengthening social harmony. We will have to follow his values of simplicity, modernity, harmony and sensitivity. That will be our true homage to him. Only then we will be able to say that Rajiv is in us,” she said in her speech.
While lauding the late Prime Minister for his contributions in giving the youths the right to franchise, devolution of powers to panchayats and bringing in a revolution in telecom and communication, Mrs Gandhi said that he ensured participation of the young people and the deprived sections of society in the country’s development process. “India is walking with its head held high in the world due to the steps taken by him,” she said.
She said it was the late Rajiv Gandhi who had started the change that led to the gains that are visible in society, economy and politics, “which we talk about loudly today”. “It was he who took the revolutionary step of bringing prosperity in the life of the poor through science and technology. It was he who took strong steps to bring peace in Assam, Mizoram and Darjeeling. Rajivji wanted to see India at the forefront of the world order,” she added.
Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi, who was not keeping well for some days, and former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh were conspicuous by their absence at the event, which was organised by the Youth Congress. Some former ministers like P. Chidambaram and A.K. Antony were also not present.
The event was attended by senior leaders Ghulam Nabi Azad, Digvijay Singh, Janardan Dwivedi and Ajit Jogi, among others.
