Sonia Gandhi used the first meeting of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee to send out a strong signal of unity to the 28-member Opposition INDIA alliance on Saturday, reports NDTV. The former Congress President told the members of the top decision-making body that the party has to fight unitedly with INDIA bloc against the BJP.

The Congress accused the government of complete failure on the political, economic and national security fronts and claimed there is a challenge to the constitutional and federal structure of the country under the BJP, reports PTI.

Several members of the reconstituted Congress Working Committee (CWC) spoke on the political situation in the country and will come out with a resolution holding the Modi government responsible for its "failure" on the political, economic and security threats that pose grave challenges.

Briefing the media after hours of brainstorming at the first meeting of the Working Committee under Mallikarjun Kharge's presidency, Congress leaders P Chidambaram and Jairam Ramesh said the deliberations are still underway and the CWC would come out with a resolution soon.

"In the CWC, we are discussing the situation in the country, broadly the political situation, the economic crises that the country faces and the security threats (both internal and external) that pose grave challenges to the country," Chidambaram said.

"We believe there is a challenge to the constitutional and federal structure of the country," he alleged referring to the political situation in the country.

He said there are security challenges in Manipur, Jammu and Kashmir, and, in addition to that, there is the Chinese challenge on our borders.

"The Chinese are standing firm in opposition despite numerous talks at various levels. What happened to the brave words, 'status quo ante'? On the contrary, the status quo is changing every day. We are losing territory, and the Chinese are maintaining or holding the territory," Chidambaram alleged.

Referring to June 19 statement of Prime Minister Narendra Modi that no one has entered into Indian territory, he said, Modi's claim has encouraged China to maintain its "stubborn position" of not retreating an inch.

He alleged that Manipur is facing unrest and the prime minister does not seem to have time to visit the state even for two hours while he has visited many nations in quick succession.

On Kashmir Chidambaram said, "What we see is far from normalcy. Certainly Kashmir is nowhere near normal. There is comprehensive failure of the prime minister and the home minister." Asked about the 'One nation one election' issue, he said, it is an "assault" on the Constitution and "we reject it".

He noted that it will require five Constitutional amendments on the 'one nation one election' issue and the BJP does not have that kind of majority to do so.

"We reject this one nation one election," he asserted.

Chidambaram also accused the Modi government of not giving their due and cited the examples of Karnataka's promise of rice where the FCI has been refused to give rice to Karnataka.

He said the second example is Himachal Pradesh where assistance is not being provided and the devastation caused by the floors and landslides in the hill state has not been declared a national disaster.

"Even a child would know why obstacles are being laid in Karnataka and Himachal Pradesh. It is only because the BJP lost elections in these two states," Chidambaram said, referring to the central government not assisting them.

Talking about the economic crises, he said for several months now, the RBI has been increasing the interest rate, citing inflation.

"There is every indication that it will increase the interest rate again. Retail inflation on many commodities is near or has crossed double digits," he noted.

He said while food inflation is over 10 percent, the government has no explanation to offer. The wholesale price index is falling, but retail prices are rising, he alleged.

Chidambaram said unemployment is close to 8.5 percent and monthly exports have declined.

"Several indicators are pointing towards a grave crisis. We have inflation, unemployment, slowing growth, falling exports and imports," he said.