REPORT

AICC DIARY

Gujarat Formula Fails

03.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Prime Minister tried to explain away the defeat of BJP as the result of internal scrabbling within his party. But that explanation was half-hearted even from his side. The Prime Minister himself admitted that there was no enthusiasm in the response from the people who attended his meetings and he could figure out that the BJP might not win. His explanation was self-contradictory. His explanation gave away the fact that he was offering excuses not causes of the party’s defeat. In our view, it was a triumph of liberal forces over force of communalism.

True Face

04.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi briefed the press.

The Congress Party’s reaction on the videotape of Mayawati shown by Mulayam Singh Yadav, Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi said that the videotape shows Ms. Mayawati as demanding money for party fund from MPs and MLAs from their area development fund. Ms. Mayawati has exhibited a clear example of corruption. By doing this she has shown the true corrupt face of the BSP-BJP alliance in Uttar Pradesh.

CLP Leader Elected

05.3.2003 : Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi briefed the press.

Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi said that yesterday evening in Himachal Pradesh, Shri Virbhadra Singh was elected leader of the CLP in the Congress Party’s tradition of consensus. Tomorrow, he will take oath as Chief Minister. The voters of Himachal Pradesh have rejected the communalism of the BJP and Sangh Parivar and given their full support to the Congress Party. We congratulate the people of Himachal Pradesh and thank them for their support.

Congress Attacked in Tripura

10.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Shivraj Patil, Shri Ahmed Patel and Shri Kapil Sibal briefed the press.

Shri Shivraj Patil said that he along with Shri Ahmed Patel and Shri Kapil Sibal visited some of the villages in Tripura in which workers of the Congress Party and their properties had been attacked. We could visit twenty places and talk to the victims. Some houses and offices of the Congress Party have been burnt to ashes while some were attacked.

Many people have been seriously injured in these attacks by axes and swords, and are in hospital. Some people have left their houses due to fear of further attacks. We met the Governor and the Chief Minister of Tripura, and also spoke to the media there. These attacks took place on the day of the declaration of results and the day after.

Not Final List

12.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Satyavrat Chaturvedi briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said by choosing to highlight the discrepancies in the voters’ list, the BJP has shown that it has run out of issues in Madhya Pradesh. It also proves its political bankruptcy and betrays its defeatist mentality in Madhya Pradesh. The demand for imposition of President’s Rule is ridiculous. Everybody knows that voters’ lists are prepared on the basis of directions from the Election Commission and the voters’ lists have been published now with the view to invite objections and complaints from the people. They are not even the final voters lists. Even in the final voters’ lists in Gujarat so many serious errors were found.

Apex Court Verdict

13.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that Congress Party would oppose any move or bid to nullify the apex court verdict. We welcome the judgement. We think voters have an inalienable right to know everything about the candidate’s criminal antecedents, assets and liabilities. It was in line with the principles of public administration. Stating that the judgment vindicates the position taken by the Congress Party when the issue was brought forward in Parliament. Shri Jaipal Reddy further asserted that Congress Party would "not cooperate" in any move to nullify the Supreme Court order.

Destabilised

17.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the BJP led Government in Jharkhand has destabilised itself through internal contradictions. Only yesterday the BJP’s National President said that Mr. Marandi would not be changed under any circumstances. But within hours the BJP had to eat its words and had to change the leader. JD (U) is now facing internal problem in regard to their choice of speaker Mr. Namdhari, Samata Party also is being subject to internal convulsion. This episode proves that BJP is not only an ideological challenged party but also a chronically undisciplined party. So far as we are concerned we are watching the situation there with interest.

All Party Meeting

21.3.2003 : Shri Motilal Vora, Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Syed Sibte Razi briefed the press.

Shri Motilal Vora said that we are pleased to welcome Dr. I. P. Aron, a former senior IAS officer of the UP cadre to the Congress Party. Dr. Aron has been known to me for the past many years and has been committed to the Congress Party and its policies.

Shri Anand Sharma said that tomorrow the Prime Minister has convened an all-party meeting. The Congress Party will be represented at the highest level, the Congress President Smt. Sonia Gandhi, Dr. Manmohan Singh and Shri Natwar Singh will attend the meeting. We shall wait to hear the Government’s assessment and view point on the evolving situation. The Congress Party’s position was earlier made unequivocally clear at the previous all-party meeting. We expressed our strong reservations on any action outside the domain of the UN Security Council. After being informed of the Government’s assessment and position, the Congress Party’s position will be made clear tomorrow.

Views On Iraq War

22.3.2003 : Shri Natwar Singh briefed the press.

Shri Natwar Singh said that the CWC met at 5pm and ended at 6.15pm. At the all-party meeting today, all the opposition parties expressed their views on the war in Iraq. It is unfortunate that at the end of the meeting there was no consensus on issuing a joint statement as the Government refused to condemn the war. The Congress Party condemned the unilateral action against Iraq without the sanction of the UN Security Council. We also stated that we are here to strengthen the Government’s hands and not to embarrass it.

There is anger throughout the world on the war. We also said that UN Resolution 1441 makes no mention of regime change. The Government of India should have agreed to the balance and mature advice of the opposition parties. No one wants to adversely affect our relations with the United States of America. But the fundamental question is that no superpower has a right to attack another nation without taking the permission of the Security Council under Chapter 7 of the UN Charter.

Terrorist Act Condemned

24.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we condemn the terrorist incident that was enacted in Kashmir valley with all the emphasis at our command. This incident was executed in a cold-blooded manner with a view to derailing the process of normalisation in Jammu and Kashmir. This is the result of cross-border terrorism, which has been going on for nearly two decades. It is unfortunate that the BJP has chosen to politicise this incident.

Even before the details of this ghastly incident could be known, BJP pounced upon this tragedy to inject politics into it. The fact of the matter is that a lot of paramilitary forces were withdrawn from the State of Jammu and Kashmir more than five months back. Jammu and Kashmir has been in need of pre-existing level of paramilitary forces. The Government of Jammu and Kashmir has been asking for more security forces. The Government of India has turned a deaf ear and failed to provide the necessary security forces.

More than one year back, when a big terrorist incident took place in Chittisinghpura, a delegation of the Congress Party led by Dr. Manmohan Singh met the Prime Minister and specifically requested him to see that paramilitary forces are posted at the villages in Kashmir valley where pandits, the Hindu minority, are living. The paramilitary forces are there but they live in their own camps, they are not posted in the villages where people live. The same thing happened today.

Opposers Attacked

26.3.2003 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Abhishek Singhvi and Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Congress President paid a visit to the site in South Kashmir where twenty-four pandits were killed. She was traumatised by the incident and had a meeting with the Chief Minister. On returning to Delhi, she asked Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad and the Deputy Chief Minister, Shri Mangat Ram Sharma to study as to what additional steps should be taken to protect the pandits in the valley in the face of sustained cross-border terrorism. Congress President has also instructed them to keep her posted with the developments on this front.

Shri Randeep Singh Surjewala said that on the 14th of March at Karnal, a meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad had been organised by Shri Shashipal Mehta, a former BJP Minister, that was addressed by Mr. Praveen Togadia. When inappropriate and abusive language was used by Togadia against the person of Smt. Sonia Gandhi, two of the youth among the crowd stood up and protested. Togadia stopped in his speech and asked his followers to silence the two protestors. The two youth who were asserting their democratic right by protesting peacefully, were attacked with swords, trishuls and lathis. One received twenty-six stitches while the other sustained eleven stitches. This is an example of the intolerant criminal mindset of Togadia and the VHP.

Misbehaviour

31.3.2003 : Shri Anand Sharma, Shri Abhishek Singhvi and Shri Ajit Jogi briefed the press.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the Congress President has written to the Home Minister, L. K. Advani in which the details of a letter written by a Member of Parliament, Shri Madhusudan Mistry have been mentioned. Activists of the VHP and Bajrang Dal who were coming from Gujarat to Delhi for the BJP rally via the Ashram Express misbehaved on the train with women and persons belonging to the minority community. These VHP and Bajrang Dal workers also raised provocative slogans and were travelling without ticket. Smt. Sonia Gandhi has demanded that when these people return via train, the Home Ministry along with the Railway Minister should ensure that no such incidents take place.

Judgement

Shri Abhishek Singhvi said that today has been the day of a triad of reverses and defeats by the Government. The judgement on Ayodhya is significant not only because the main order uses the very important words, ‘that for communal harmony, peace and unity it is necessary to maintain the status quo’. It is important because it is the second constitutional bench judgement of the highest court in the country. The judgement is important because it vindicates what we have been saying for years and months that everybody rightfully reading the first judgement should have understood that the undisputed land should have also been preserved till the final outcome in respect to the disputed land.

- Tom Vadakkan
Media Secretary