WHY CONGRESS MATTERS
If you type this in Google, you'll find a plethora of articles about what's wrong with the party, what it should do to revive etc. While no one admits in as many words, it's implicit that INC remains relevant & it's relevance and
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#CongressFoundationDay

well being is critical for the nation's well being.
It was 1984. I was an eight year old, a plantation kid. Living in the remote fringes of North Bengal. We used to get a day old newspaper or depend on Bangladesh TV for the news. Of course there was the radio in a corner of
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the bungalow, largely neglected. But on that fateful afternoon, the radio became a life saver. Indira Gandhi was assassinated. Dad broke the news to us at 5 pm. With tears in his eyes. Mind it, he was a sworn Leftist, a fan of Jyoti Basu. Yet, he wept. The 8 year old me found

it hard to comprehend. Wasn't Indira Gandhi the enemy number 1? Wasn't "Congress" a bad word? Ma was from a traditional old INC family. Her reaction to the news was on expected lines. I overheard Dad, whatever we say in Bengal, we need a strong Congress for India.
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With Indira Ji gone, my dad like many were apprehensive of an uncertain future for the party and the nation. We know the events that unfolded after that. But what remains etched in my mind was the acceptance of INC's pivotal role in India's scheme of things.
@INCIndia remains
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relevant, not just by the virtue of its lead role in India's freedom struggle, or it's role in navigating the young nation in the early years after independence, but also because it represents all thing that is India. It's not only a microcosm of India but a microcosm of
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ideologies. Truth be told, most, if not all political formations in India owe their existence to #Congress. Either as like-minded splinter groups or as ideological counterpoints. There would be no BJP without INC, nor would there be a TMC or an NCP. The Indian Left owes its
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heydays to virulent anti-Congressism. It's INC that kept democracy alive. In today's scenario, it has to be the INC that can breathe in life to a democracy that's tottering, on its last legs. On this #CongressFoundationDay, let's take a pledge to keep the idea of INC alive.