The Congress on Wednesday announced a broad political offensive against the Prime Minister Narendra Modi led Centre government, deciding to take its ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ campaign against paper leaks to nearly 800 cities, launch a nationwide agitation over alleged “chanda chori” at the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and raise the issue of Chinese incursions in Arunachal Pradesh. The party also demanded a Prime Ministerial apology over the Haldwani incident involving Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, demanded to freeze 543 Lok Sabha seats and backed implementation of women’s reservation from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections.The decisions were taken at the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meeting at Indira Bhawan in the national capital, where the party reviewed the political situation and discussed paper leaks, education, donations, China, delimitation, Vande Mataram and organisational strengthening, said general secretary (organisation) K C Venugopal while addressing a press conference along with Jairam Ramesh and Pawan Khera.The CWC also flagged worsening unemployment among educated youth, saying the crisis had become a systemic failure after 12 years, with unemployment among graduates and postgraduates higher than among those without formal education.Venugopal said that the ‘Chhatron Ki Goonj’ programme will now be held in nearly 800 cities, with Leader of Opposition Rahul Gandhi participating in several programmes. He said that the education cannot be held hostage to privatisation, centralisation and the “regressive shackles” of the RSS-BJP.”Congress president Kharge and Rahul Gandhi have asked all four Congress Chief Ministers to submit within one month concrete plans for reforming education and examination systems in their states,” said Venugopal.On Haldwani, Venugopal said the incident following Kharge’s meeting was “totally unacceptable and condemnable”. He alleged that BJP workers “purified” the platform used by Kharge and said the act was against the Constitution. The CWC demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi apologise, alleging that his silence while BJP leaders continued attacking Kharge reflected the “upper-caste mindset” of the RSS dominating the BJP.On “chanda chori”, the Congress announced protests in every state and demanded an independent probe under Supreme Court supervision, besides a comprehensive audit of all accounts and assets of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, including cash and valuables. The CWC recalled that Modi had announced the Trust in Parliament on February 5, 2020, publicly claimed credit for major milestones of the temple and led the Pran Pratishtha ceremony even while construction remained incomplete. It said people from every section of society had contributed donations, while those managing the Trust were associated with the BJP-RSS.China was another major concern. The CWC alleged continued Chinese incursions and infrastructure development in Arunachal Pradesh, saying PLA personnel had prevented Indian forces from accessing key patrolling points and conducting patrols and had restricted access to grazing and traditional usage areas along the LAC. It accused the Prime Minister, Home Minister and Defence Minister of maintaining silence.The party linked the situation to Modi’s June 2020 “clean chit” to China after Galwan, where 20 Indian soldiers were killed, and accused the government of talking about showing China a “laal aankh” while allegedly failing to protect India’s territorial integrity. It also said India’s record trade deficit with China was hurting MSMEs and the manufacturing sector and accused the government of pursuing a “surrender policy”. The CWC further expressed concern over American pressure, alleging that India’s agricultural security, energy security and strategic sovereignty were being compromised.On delimitation, the Congress demanded that the present 543 Lok Sabha seats and their existing allocation among states remain frozen for 25 years. It also demanded immediate implementation of one-third reservation for women from the 2029 Lok Sabha elections. Venugopal cited the Congress-led UDF mandate in Kerala and the post-poll alliance government in Tamil Nadu as evidence of the party defeating what he termed the BJP’s “deceitful tactics and machinery”.On the Census, Venugopal said the absence of an OBC column in the questionnaire was a serious concern and alleged that the government was trying to defeat the caste census. He said Congress president Kharge had written to the Prime Minister and demanded clarity from the government.The CWC also discussed the Vande Mataram controversy, with Venugopal saying there was “no confusion” over the party’s position. He said the Congress would abide by the decision taken in 1937 by Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, the party’s top leadership at the time.“Vande Mataram and the National Anthem are emotional things for the Congress party. But it is political for the BJP. This is the difference between them and us,” Venugopal said.He described the controversy over its recitation at the Congress headquarters as a “communication gap”, saying the matter was already closed and accusing the BJP of distorting national issues, including the paper-leak controversy. The Congress has said its workers will follow the 1937 decision to sing only two stanzas.The CWC also raised concerns over E20 fuel, including lower mileage, compatibility risks, loss of consumer choice, fuel contamination and environmental costs arising from diversion of sugarcane and maize towards fuel.Venugopal also said that the Sangathan Srijan Abhiyan is underway across the country. The Congress said organisational restructuring from the booth to state level would be completed within the next two months, before October 31.The CWC meeting was attended 88 people attended the meeting, while 33 participated in the discussion. Congress Parliamentary Party chairperson Sonia Gandhi, Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, KC Venugopal, Jairam Ramesh, Karnataka Chief Minister DK Shivakumar and other senior party leaders were also present.