A hundred years ago, Mahatma Gandhi assumed the reins of the Congress Party as President in Belgaum. The Congress Party will be commemorating this event with a CWC meeting, a rally, and programs around the Country. But we would also do well to remember the revolution Mahatma Gandhi brought in the Congress Party. When the Congress Party was founded, India was at a stage of its journey where it needed a forum for those who dreamt of a free, just and prosperous Nation. The Congress Party provided these early patriots a platform to meet, generate new ideas for India, and together build a vision for our future.

When Gandhi arrived, he realized that India’s political future and our ability to resist the British depended upon the participation of the large mass of Indians who were enslaved, exploited, and impoverished. He made the Congress Party the political vehicle to political power and participation for India’s countless poor. He brought laborers, Dalits, Adivasis, women, small farmers, factory workers, and majority of India’s masses into the political mainstream. He did so by going among them, struggling with them, helping them shed their fear, and claiming their voice against a tyrannical empire. The vehicle by which he did all of this was the Congress Party. He transformed the Party from a forum of the elites to a mass movement with membership from the grassroots, workers in every corner of India, an effective organization, and an engine to develop political leaders from every community in India. The force that he created overthrew an Empire, brought us a revolutionary Constitution, and built a strong Country committed to the welfare of its poorest.

The Party must remember the purpose, values, structure, and norms he created for the Party. We must return to the grassroots, empower workers, develop political leaders from every section of society, and stand with the many struggles of our people. This is the truest tribute we can pay to the Mahatma.

Jai Congress. Jai Hind. Jai Jagat.