BJP compelling people to live in fear: Sonia Gandhi

Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Friday echoed the party's task of reforming and restructuring the organisational structure and functional norms by saying, "extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary decisions."

In her inaugural address to the Congress Chintan Shivar, Gandhi said the Congress needed 'aatma chinthan' about itself in view of the reversals and should be aware of the need to take important decisions. "Extraordinary circumstances demand extraordinary decisions. I am clear about the need for it," she said, seen as her endorsement for the proposed changes including the pitch for youth empowerment in the leadership panels.

In the carefully planned sitting arrangements for the opening ceremony, next to the front row seats of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul, two leading faces of Congress change-seekers, Anand Sharma and Ghulam Nabi Azad were seated, perhaps meant to showcase a picture of internal unity. Gandhi also used the occasion to target the Modi government and alleged the ruling establishment was working all the time to polarise, leaving people, particularly minorities, "brutalised."


Chorus for Rahul's return
Meanwhile, many members of the panel on political issues made a chorus for Rahul Gandhi's return as the Congress president , saying his leadership indispensable for the party .