This is a battle of ideologies. There are only two parties which have ideologies – one is the BJP and other is the Congress. And, only the Congress can defeat the BJP and the RSS – Rahul Gandhi, Leader Of Opposition, Lok Sabha

Admitting Congress cadres seem ‘demoralised’ in Gujarat, where the party is out of power for long, Lok Sabha MP and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said only his outfit can defeat Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Bharatiya Janata Party as he sought to position the fight against the saffron rivals as an ideological duel.

According to report by PTI, On his second visit to Gujarat in a week, the Congress MP laid out the road map to revamp the organisation in the state and promised to remove party leaders who are either inactive or ‘work for the BJP’.

He described Gujarat, where the Congress was once a powerful political force, as the most important state for the opposition party and expressed his resolve to finish the task of defeating the RSS and the BJP, which is in power here for nearly 30 years.

Gandhi was addressing booth-level Congress workers at Modasa town in Arvalli district after launching a pilot project of strengthening district units as part of the grand old party’s push to revamp the organisation in Gujarat, where assembly polls are due in late 2027.

A five-member committee, comprising one All India Congress Committee observer and four state observers, will oversee the process of appointing new chiefs for each of the 41 district units (including eight cities) of the party in Gujarat, starting from Aravalli district.

In his address, Gandhi made several promises to workers such as devolving more power and funding to district units, assessing performance of senior figures, promoting ground-level active functionaries and removing those leaders who are either inactive or ‘working for the BJP’.

“This is a battle of ideologies. There are only two parties which have ideologies – one is the BJP and other is the Congress. And, only the Congress can defeat the BJP and the RSS. Gujarat is the most important state for the party because the path to BJP’s defeat goes through Gujarat.

“In a way, the Congress came into existence from Gujarat because two of the party’s great leaders – Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Patel – were from this state,” Gandhi told the gathering.

Admitting party cadres in Gujarat are ‘demoralised’ as the Congress is out of power in the state for nearly three decades, Gandhi insisted it is not difficult to defeat the saffron outfit.

“You feel that it is difficult to defeat the BJP here. I have come here to tell you that it is easy to defeat the BJP and we will definitely do that. We just need some changes in the party’s functioning. Local leaders highlighted some issues such as destructive competition among leaders and distribution of poll tickets without consulting local leadership,” he noted.

The Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha went on to categorise Congress leaders in three categories — race horses, wedding procession horses and ‘langda ghoda’ (injured horses).