The Women’s Reservation Bill is going to be the centrepiece of the Congress party’s 125th anniversary celebrations ending December 2010, which will begin with a special function at Jallianwala Bagh in Amritsar on April 13, a date which symbolises the martyrdom of thousands in the freedom struggle and holds emotional and patriotic appeal for people, Congress President Sonia Gandhi said today, at a meeting with chiefs of state units and general secretaries of the party.
Gandhi listed the Right to Information Act, National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and Right to Education Act as other significant Congress achievements.
She said passage of the women’s Bill in Parliament would be the realisation of her late husband and former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi’s vision to politically empower women.
Addressing the meeting, Gandhi laid stress on the 125th anniversary celebrations conveying the message of the party’s “abiding commitment to the empowerment of aam aadmi (common man)”.
She said programmes to commemorate the party’s 125th anniversary “must not be simply routine. The message must be properly articulated, drawing on the past, building on the present and projecting a vision for the future”.
The Congress president said effective coordination was essential between state unit presidents, chief ministers, legislative party leaders and the general secretaries in charge of the states.
Citing the results of the 2009 general elections, she said these were an affirmation of the abiding faith of the people in the values and programmes of the Congress. She said young people must be made aware of the history of the struggle for Independence. “We need to reach out to them, as they hold the key to the future.”
She said the AICC national preparatory committee had drawn up a list of historical landmarks in the freedom struggle, including those of the satyagrahas of Mahatma Gandhi, and befitting activities should be held at venues associated with these events. “No other party can claim to have a legacy as rich as ours,” she said.
Gandhi said the party was planning a series of national seminars, each associated with the freedom struggle. A list of significant Congress resolutions was being compiled and a primer prepared for party workers.
The Congress president said the party would also bring out a number of publications to mark its 125 years. She said four volumes of the history of the party were published during the Congress centenary and two more were being published to cover the years since 1964.
The year-long celebrations will culminate in a special session in December 2010, when the party will complete 125 years of its existence.
