"Avoid Going To Media...": Sonia Gandhi Tip To Contain Congress Infighting

The Congress called for unity among citizens cutting across ideological and party lines to "overthrow" what it called "the dictatorial government in order to save democracy."

On the second day of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting in Hyderabad, the party's national chief Mallikarjun Kharge asked all leaders and workers at all levels to meet people regularly and listen to their problems, as the party prepares the ground to fight the national election next year.

"This is not the time for us to rest. In the past 10 years under the BJP's rule, the challenges faced by ordinary people have multiplied. The Prime Minister refuses to address the concerns of the poor, farmers, labourers, women and youth; instead, he cannot look beyond himself," Mr Kharge said.

"In such circumstances, we cannot remain mute spectators. We must unite and overthrow this dictatorial government in order to save our democracy," he said.

Sonia Gandhi asked party leaders to maintain self-restraint and avoid going to the media with comments that could harm the Congress's interests. The party has already released a list of journalists and media organisations with whom the Congress will not engage anymore.

"We must work tirelessly, putting aside personal interests. We must prioritise the success of the party, putting aside our personal differences... Only through unity and discipline we can defeat our adversaries. This was evident in Karnataka, where we remained united and fought with discipline to achieve success," Mr Kharge said.

The Congress is part of the newly formed Opposition bloc INDIA, which the BJP says faces a lot of internal challenges as some of the parties are rivals in many states.

The CWC has 39 regular members, 32 permanent invitees and 13 special invitees. These include 15 women and several new faces such as Shashi Tharoor, Sachin Pilot and Gaurav Gogoi.

BJP chief JP Nadda has said the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) only knew how to carry out scams. Home Minister Amit Shah yesterday slammed the INDIA coalition for alleged denigration of "Sanatana Dharma" and claimed the Congress-led coalition did away with the previous name "UPA" because it had been associated with "scams involving Rs 12 lakh crore".