- Congress plans nationwide protests on paper leak issue after monsoon session
- Chhatron Ki Goonj campaign to expand to 800 cities, led by Rahul Gandhi
- Congress opposes privatisation of education and calls for state-level reforms
The monsoon session of parliament scuttled over police action against students protesting paper leak, the Congress is now planning to take its protests across the country. At a meeting of the party's working committee today, the Congress came up with a multi-pronged strategy that encompassed a range of issues from donation theft at the Ayodhya temple to Chinese activities along the India-China border and delimitation.
The party also put its foot down on the Vande Mataram issue, reiterating that it will not sing more than two stanzas of the national song - as was done once by Mahatma Gandhi and Rabindranath Tagore.
At a press conference after the meeting, the Congress said its 'Chhatron Ki Goonj' campaign against paper leaks - which started in June -- will now be taken across nearly 800 cities. Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi will spearhead the campaign and take part in several of these programmes\, sources said.
Party general secretary, organisation, KC Venugopal said education "cannot be allowed to become a victim of privatisation and centralisation".
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have asked the four Congress-ruled states to prepare concrete plans for improving their education and examination systems within one month, Venugopal added.
The Congress also announced a nationwide campaign against the donation theft at the Ayodhya Ram temple - an issue it had flagged in parliament, stalling proceedings during the monsoon session.
The party now plans to take the "chanda chori" campaign to the grassroot level, flagging it in every small town and village.
Calling the probe by a Special Investigation Team of the Uttar Pradesh a "sham", the party has demanded a judicial probe, and a statement from the Prime Minister accepting responsibility for the theft that has shocked the country. It has also sought a complete audit of the accounts and assets of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust.
On delimitation, the Congress demanded that the current strength of the Lok Sabha - 543 seats - and the existing distribution of seats among states remain frozen for the next 25 years.
The party also demanded that the one-third reservation for women be implemented from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.
