Report

AICC DIARY

Threat by BJP, NDA

9.02.2005: Shri Anand Sharma addressed the media.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the BJP and NDA have once again threatened to disrupt Parliament during the Budget session. Every responsible leader showed his concern on the way both the Houses of Parliament were disrupted during the last session. By this action the BJP has once again proved that they have no commitment towards the people and the valuable time of Parliament was lost with almost no transaction being carried out. On the issue of Goa, one government was removed and the other took over.

Shri Anand Sharma said that it will be unconstitutional if the BJP try's to disrupt Parliament. The BJP has a right to discuss the issue in Parliament, the highest forum in a democracy. Shri Sharma reminded them that when BJP-led NDA was in power they brought down the stable governments in the North East. In one state there was not a single BJP MLA but the BJP government was installed. So, the double-standards of BJP are before the people. The BJP does not have any national issue and is therefore rudderless and directionless.

Shri Anand Sharma said that once again allegations have come from the BJP leadership itself that Advaniji was responsible for the 1992 demolition at Ayodhya. Shri Sharma said that just for the sake of one person pressure was put on CBI who revised the charge sheet and skipped important sections which were important for his prosecution while charges were framed against others.

Contrasting Vision

11.02.2005: Dr Abhishek Singhvi addressed the media.

Dr Abhishek Singhvi said that unlike the last government which caused communal division in the country, this government brought unity. Within a short time touched a new milestone by setting up regional cooperation in the Asian region. The best example is the accord reached between India and China. This was the unifying initiative taken by India and also today India is the largest foreign trade partner of China. Shri Singhvi said that Congress Party believed in unifying initiatives both in our country and outside. Abhishek Singhvi said that in the recently held local body elections in Jammu and Kashmir showed 70 percent of voting. It was the same in Rajasthan, where the winds of change are fast blowing.

Condemnation

16.02.2005: Smt. Jayanti Natarajan addressed the media.

Smt. Jayanti Natarajan said that the Congress party strongly expresses its condemnation for the statement and the resolution passed by the VHP in their "Margyadarshak Mandal" where they called upon Hindus to violate the 2-child norm and bring about population explosion and to quote their resolution from news reports in order to counter the frightening explosions in numbers of Muslims. We strongly condemn this deplorable attempt to communalise even fundamentally important issues like population, which are absolutely vital for the development of our democracy.

Truth on Tape

18.02.2005: Shri Abhishek Singhvi addressed the media.

Shri Abhishek Singhvi said that we demand an enquiry, a comprehensive enquiry, into the transparent, clear and obvious evidence available on tape establishing beyond doubt the full knowledge of former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee in respect to the Ayodhya episode. We believe that this is the the smoking gun evidence. This is a direct and hard evidence and certainly it should be looked into at the highest level with a sense of urgency. We demand that it is enquired into comprehensively by the on-going Liberhan Commission.

Reflection of Priorities

21.02.2005: Shri Anand Sharma addressed the media.

Shri Anand Sharma said that to talk about the forthcoming Budget, we feel it essential to comment as a party and hope and expect that the budget will reflect the priorities which have been identified and mentioned both in our vision documents during the last Lok Sabha elections and included as Common Minimum Programme which is the agenda of governance for the UPA government. These do include the social sector, rural development, rural indebtness and provision of employment. We hope adequate resources would be made available through the budget to give a fillip to government policies and programmes in education and health, specially with a focus on rural health and on employment guarantee programme. Also keeping in view the defence needs of the country, there would be adequate allocation for the three Services which is important for the defence preparedness. It is our belief that the UPA government's budget will clearly underscore the direction and also the abiding commitment to the National Common Minimum Programme and the priorities which are mentioned there.

Shri Anand Sharma said that we feel that the process has started for accelerating the pace of development in the North Eastern India. The governments policies are giving priority attention to the North Eastern region which has been again proven by both the statements and visits of the Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi as well as the Prime Minister. We are of this belief, that, this shall help in bringing the economies of North Eastern India to integrate them with the national economy and also it will contribute immensely towards the restoration of peace and normalcy in the entire region.

Budget Session

23.02.2005: Smt. Jayanti Natarajan addressed the media.

Smt. Jayanti Natarajan said that the Budget session of Parliament is scheduled to start. This is a very crucial session of Parliament since it concerns the presentation of the Budget and very important discussions are scheduled to be held concerning the welfare of the people and development of millions of our countrymen. After the Budget is presented important discussion will take place in Parliament regarding economic policy. The focus of the Congress party will be basically upon empowering the `Aam Aadmi' or the common man with special reference to the creation of jobs and bringing about economic growth with equity and with a human face.

Rail Budget Presented

26.02.2005: Shri Anand Sharma addressed the media.

Shri Anand Sharma said that that the most important development of the day was the Rail budget and it is the second Rail budget which has been presented. It underscores the commitment to ensure relief to the common man and that's why there is no increase in fare and freight and the emphasis is on modernisation and also on improved safety and security. Special schemes have also been announced like the sanction of work under SRSF, medical Relief trains and trains carrying equipment for restoration and upgrading, deployment of state of art, modern track recording car for better monitoring, first ACD section on India Railway, designed to prevent collision. Also worth mentioning is that without raising the fares an overall increase in the Railway profit of Rs.1,838 crores, higher than the budget estimates has been attained.

Emphasis on Development

28.02.2005: Shri Anand Sharma addressed the media.

Shri Anand Sharma said that the first full budget of the UPA government confirms the sincerity of the commitment which we had made in the last Lok Sabha elections and the Congress allies in the UPA had committed to the people of this country through the National Common Minimum Programme. Most of the priorities identified in the National Common Minimum Programme have been taken into consideration and adequate provision have been made for the launch of new schemes for the alleviation of sufferings of the rural people, the farmers, the farm labour and the unemployed youth. Special emphasis is there for the development of rural infrastructure through rural health mission for the provision of health in the hinterland and the rural areas and availability of funds for rural credit, increased allocation of funds for education and health. Overall, this is a budget which will ensure accelerated all-round development.

- Tom Vadakkan
Secretary, AICC