Sonia Gandhi has asked senior leaders to bring new members into the Congress (File)

Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Thursday addressed a meeting of senior party leaders and discussed the strategy to counter the BJP-led central government on "economic or social" issues concerning the country. Mrs Gandhi, who took over the party months after its crushing defeat in the national election, stressed on connecting with people directly as, she said, "it is not enough to be active and aggressive on social media".

"We must stand up fearlessly to fight on the streets, fight in villages, towns and cities. We must have a concrete agitational agenda on issues of pressing concern to the people--whether they be economic or social. It is not enough to be active and aggressive on social media even though that too is needed and we need to do that better. Far more important is to go to the people directly," she was quoted by news agency ANI as saying.

The meeting was attended by Congress general secretaries, state unit chiefs and Congress legislature party leaders.

Accusing the BJP of "misusing" the mandate it received, Mrs Gandhi said democracy was in peril.

"Democracy has never been at greater peril than it is now... As I said a few weeks back, the mandate of 2019 is now being misused and abused in a most dangerous fashion," she said.

Summing up what she said were problems being faced by the country, she said, there was a prolonged economic slump, job losses were mounting by the day, confidence of the investors was shaking and the government appeared more and more "clueless and insensitive" by the day.

Mrs Gandhi's son Rahul Gandhi quit as the president in May following the dismal Lok Sabha polls performance of the party. Many Congress leaders switched over to the BJP soon after. The Congress's coalition government in Karnataka also collapsed within months of the national election, leaving the party in deep crisis.

To revitalise the party, Mrs Gandhi has asked senior leaders, including chief ministers of Congress-led states, to reconnect with their booth level-workers and bring new members into the party.

With inputs from ANI