Veteran Congress leader and former Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi on Monday said the party should emulate the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) model to establish mass contact.

“We are opposed to the ideology of the RSS but the mass contact programme of the organisation is worth emulating if we have to reach out to people at the grassroots level,” Gogoi told reporters.

He said the RSS and its affiliates were working among the people in the state, which is one of the reasons for the BJP’s electoral success in the state. “We also need to do the same in order to gauge the people’s mood and to have a better understanding of their problems and aspirations,” he said.

According to Gogoi, the Congress also needs a separate cadre like the RSS to mobilise support for the party.

He said the Congress had become complacent after being in power in the state for 15 years due to which the BJP had managed to make inroads into the state.

“We have decided to work on a mission mode to strengthen the party in the state,” Gogoi said.

The PCC has set a target of winning 80 seats in the 2021 Assembly polls and named the initiative as Mission 80, which was also discussed at the party’s executive committee meeting held here on Saturday.

“I will lead Mission 80 from the front,” he said.

Gogoi also hinted that he will be one of the contenders for the post of chief minister if the Congress comes to power in 2021.

He alleged that a section of police officers of the border branch are falsely branding Indian citizens as Bangladeshis and referring them to foreigners tribunals.

“The government must take strong action against such officials,” he said.

Gogoi also demanded action against sub-inspector of border police Chandramal Das, who had referred the case of retired army man Md Sanaullah to a foreigners tribunal. “Why he was not arrested even after an FIR was registered against him?” Gogoi asked.

PCC secy claim: Assam PCC secretary Partha Pratim Bora on Monday claimed that he resigned from the Congress to preserve “self-respect and dignity” in the face of machinations by the state Congress president Ripun Bora.