New Delhi, Jan 17 (IANS)

 Congress President Sonia Gandhi Friday said the 2014 Lok Sabha elections will be "a battle for India" and its secular traditions.

"We assemble here as the 2014 Lok Sabha elections approach. We meet today to send a clear signal that the Congress is ready and prepared for the battle ahead," she said in her address at the All India Congress Committee meeting here.

She said: "These elections will be a sharpening contest between conflicting ideologies, between competing interpretations of the past and between clashing visions of the future".

"These elections will be a battle for India as it was conceived by our founding fathers and as we cherish. It will be a battle for the preservation of our age-old secular traditions, traditions of diverse communities living harmoniously in one composite national identity," she said.

The UPA chairperson said: "The Congress has faced many difficult times in the past. Much harder than today. But we have never lost heart. We have repeatedly demonstrated our resilience by remaining committed to our vision, to our values and the beliefs that have always sustained them."

"Our party is woven into the fabric of this nation from its very conception as a modern nation state."

Sonia Gandhi added: "Today I want to address some key threats to this fabric and the tensions and forces that are stretching it to a breaking point".

By:IANS