REPORT

AICC DIARY

01.04.2002 : Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Anand Sharma said that the continuing carnage and deaths of innocent people in Gujarat is both a matter of shame and deep concern. It once again has underscored the lack of will of the Chief Minister, Shri Narinder Modi and the BJP Government in Ahmedabad to restore the rule of law and ensure protection to vulnerable sections of society.

He said that there is a Chief Ministers’ conclave in Guwhati from the 12th to 14th of April. This is the third such conclave.

03.04.2002 : Shri. Jaipal Reddy and Shri. Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the National Human Rights Commission has spoken officially on what really happened in Gujarat, what needs to be enquired into and what needs to be further attended to by way of rehabilitation and relief.

04.04.2002 : Smt. Ambika Soni and Shri Jaipal Reddy briefed the press. Shri A. Satyanarayan Rao and Shri Rajashekhar Reddy were also present. Smt. Ambika Soni said that at the direction of the Congress President, Andhra Pradesh was the first state to hold an interactive workshop with senior leaders of AICC and leaders from Andhra Pradesh. Leaders who attended it from the AICC were Shri Motilal Vora, Shri Ghulam Nabi Azad, Shri Oscar Fernandes, Shri Daljit Singh and myself. There was a criteria for inviting leaders from Andhra Pradesh. There were those who had held senior posts in the State, there were others who had got elected to Parliament and State Legislature four times or more, chiefs of frontal organisations, former Union Ministers, AICC office-bearers and Working Committee members from Andhra Pradesh. The total number of invitees was almost 70, 57 senior leaders attended. At the day-long workshop, action programmes were discussed for the next two and a half years. The workshop took an update of what we had done in the last two years.

05.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy made some comments on the Prime Ministers visit to Gujarat. He said the defensive explanations offered by the Prime Minister for his delayed visit to Gujarat have not carried conviction with the people. The delay of six weeks is extraordinary by any standard it only betrays lack of will on the part of the Prime Minister, to restore a semblance of normalcy in Gujarat.

08.04.2002 : Smt Ambika Soni and Shri Natwar Singh briefed the press. Smt Ambika Soni said CWC meet at an emergency session this evening. CWC addressed itself to the continuing deterioration of the law and order situation in Gujarat. The deseceration of the Sabarmati Ashram by communal elements. The CWC noted that Sabarmati Ashram which has been the abode of peace was trampled upon by lathi-welding policemen who hit out especially media person who were covering a meeting organised by some Non-Governmental Organisation and others for peace in Gujarat. The CWC condemned this vented act, on the sacred soil of Gandhi’s Sabarmati Ashram in strong terms. The CWC has asked for the immediate removal of Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri Narendra Modi.

On being asked if Congress is serious about the backlash, Smt. Ambika Soni said that most of our work as of now is still oriented on a humanitarian bases because a political agitation can take place only if the people of the area are mentally free to discuss political option and alternatives, at the moment they are living in fear of their own lives. For last 40 days Governments of Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Maharastra have been sending items for daily need for those living in relief camps.

On a question Smt. Ambika Soni said that we have being saying right from the beginning that all what has happened in Gujarat, what happened in Godhra the Congress President condemned, her’s was the first condemnation here, Jaipal Reddy and myself were present. We were the first one to condemn it on 27th. Post Godhra could have been avoided if the Government in Gujarat was detriment to avoid it.

10.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Copies of a press release on Prabhakaran were released. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that following the resolution passed at the Congress Working Committee which met on 8th of April, the AICC has evolved an action programme throughout the country to press for the resignation of Mr. Narinder Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat. The first programme is slated for the 11th of April, it will be in the form of demonstrations in various state capitals. The second phase of the programme will start from the 16th of April which will continue up to 21st of May which is the death anniversary of Shri Rajiv Gandhi and is observed by the Congress Party as Sadbhavna Day. On 16th of April, there will be relay hunger strikes in various state capitals. But more importantly, there will be a relay hunger strike at Sabarmati Ashram, it will start from 16th of April. On each day, the relay hunger strike will be led by one CWC member along with other senior leaders of the Party, both from the national and state levels.

12.04.2002 : Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri. Anand Sharma said there are two conclaves, which are taking, place one in Goa and other in Guwahati. The focus and the agenda of the Guwahati conclave, which, is being attended by the Congress President, fourteen Congress Chief Ministers, General Secretaries and few select working committee members, is on development, on welfare, on governance and also on the achievements made by the Congress Party nationally as well as in the states governed by it between the last conclave and this conclave. The message which will be emanating from Guwahati, is very clear.

On Gujarat, reiteration of the demand, made very forcefully by the CWC for the ouster of Chief Minister Mr. Narendra Modi, who, has lost all moral and constitutional right to hold office. Yesterday throughout India the leaders of the Congress and the workers had participated in the mass action, in all the states capitals and in Gujarat at many places in addition to Ahmedabad.

The Congress President in the wake of the Congress working committee decision on Gujarat and the announcement of the action plan, has sent a five-member delegation to Gujarat this morning. The Congress delegation comprises Shri R K Dhawan, Shri L P Shahi, Shri Mukul Wasnik, Shri Subodhkant Sahay and Shri Arjun Sengupta. The mandate of this team is: To evaluate the management of the relief camps, assess the relief and rehabilitation activities done by the state government, to assess the security arrangements made by the government for those victims who have been sent back to their respective villages and homes and to assess the prevailing insecurity among the people. The team shall be visiting Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha, Ajmal, Khera, Anand, Baroda, Bharuch and Surat.

15.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Subhash Chopra briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that the Congress party reiterates its demand for the resignation of the Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri. Narendra Modi. Congress Party in its next phase will organise a relay hunger strike led by Congress party workers and leaders in every state and district of the country. As for Gujarat it will be organised before the Sabarmati Ashram. There a CWC member will lead the relay hunger strike every day, it will go on till the 21st May.

As for the programme in Delhi, this programme will start at Rajghat. All the Members of Parliament of the Congress party will participate between 9am to 10 am.

On being asked whether stalling the Parliament is part of the tactics, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we are not stalling Parliament, we gave notices for an adjournment motion. Our notice for adjournment motion satisfies all the condition.

Today morning the leader of opposition Smt. Sonia Gandhi took the intiative and personally invited the opposition leaders Shri Deva Gowda, Shri Somnath Chatterjee, Shri Mulayam Singh and Shri Raghuvansh Prasad and many others.

16.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that our week-long programme of agitation to press for the removal of Shri Narinder Modi as Chief Minister of Gujarat has begun today. It will go on till 21st May. It began with the relay hunger-strike at Rajghat. The Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi and other MPs of the Congress Party available in Delhi were present at Rajghat between 9am and 10am.

Asked how the Congress Party is trying to bring the opposition together and planning to form an alternate Government, Shri Jaipal Reddy said that so far as opposition parties are concerned, the Congress President took the initiative yesterday. It was very kind of opposition leaders like Deve Gowdaji, Mulayam Singhji and others who responded to our invitation for a meeting. As far as Government formation is concerned, we are not into the destabilisation game, we are not making any effort to provide an alternative Government, we are not interfering in the internal politics of NDA.

18.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that it is deplorable that the Prime Minister has chosen not to face Parliament or to take initiative to break the stalemate in Parliament. We hold the Government squarely responsible for the continuing deadlock in Parliament. Although, technically a motion under 184 is not a censure motion, defeat of the Government does not have legal implications, the Government is aware that defeat under 184 has irregisterable and irreversible political and moral implications. The Government has therefore been avoiding discussion in Parliament under this Rule. It is the right of the Opposition to insist upon discussion under any Rule, after all Rules are there to be used in Parliament.

19.04.2002 : Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Anand Sharma said that the stalemate on the resumption of Parliament proceedings continues and the Government of the day is squarely responsible for this impasse. The Government is not prepared to discharge its constitutional duties and obligation. Today, there was an all-party meeting convened by the Deputy Speaker in which the Prime Minister and the Leader of Opposition both were present. The Leader of Opposition made a personal appeal to the Prime Minister, at this meeting, to help in breaking this impasse by agreeing to the discussion.

22.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy issued reshuffled list of AICC office-bearers. (See page 21 & 22 for details.)

23.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Anand Sharma said that in our view there is no need for the international bodies to get exercised over the Human Rights situation in Gujarat. Everybody needs to take note that Democracy in India is vibrant, it is alive and kicking in India. We have an independent judiciary, a vigilant media and a powerful Parliament to call the executive to account. Aberrations, if any in the Indian system, can be corrected by the developed democratic institutions in the country. It is the glory of Indian Democracy that there have been sustained vehement protests within the country over what happened in Gujarat. It testifies to the sturdy health of Indian political institutions.

24.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Abhishek Singhavi briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that we deplore the Prime Minister’s observations on the ruling given by the Deputy Speaker yesterday. It is important to note no Union Minister, let alone the Prime Minister, has ever in the history of India made an adverse comment on the ruling given by any Presiding Officer. It was all the more regrettable because the comment was made outside the House. The Prime Minister makes the original indiscrete remark deliberately and clarification follows with an equal amount of deliberation. We are of the view that there must be ceiling on the number of clarifications that the Prime Minister of India can give on his own statements. To be honest, we have lost count of his clarifications, we need a calculator.

The latest one was a clarification he gave on his speech in Goa, the other one he gave after the election in UP was conveniently over. The Prime Minister made a comment in Varanasi that the BJP did not need Muslim votes and that they can win the elections without Muslim votes. He waited for thirty-six hours and denied the whole thing. In New York, he called himself a swayamsevak, again he clarified that he was a swayamsevak not in the RSS sense but in the literal sense, he must have consulted his Oxford English Dictionary for his Hindi words. Earlier on, at Shahnawaz Hussain’s Iftar party he said that Ramjanbhoomi Temple movement was an expression of national sentiment. He had to offer a number of clarifications except that every clarification compounded the confusion.

Shri Jaipal Reddy said that Mr. L. K. Advani refused to concede to our demand for inquiry by a sitting Supreme Court Judge to look into what had happened in Godhra and what happened thereafter. He went on to support the decision of Modi’s Government to go in for a probe by a handpicked retired High Court Judge.

26.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy, Shri Anand Sharma and Shri Abhishek Singhavi briefed the press. Copies of the Congress President’s speech at the CII meet were distributed to the press.

Shri Jaipal Reddy announced the Congress Party’s programme for the 1st of May, which also happens to be the Foundation Day of Gujarat. There will be two programmes, a prayer meeting at Kirti Mandir, Porbander which is the birthplace of Gandhiji. There will also be a rally to be addressed by the Congress President at 11.30 am. In Ahmedabad, there will be a peace march at 4pm in which women MPs will participate and a large number of women will take part in this march.

29.04.2002 : Shri Jaipal Reddy and Shri Abhishek Singhvi briefed the press. Shri Jaipal Reddy said that BJP and RSS had clandestine confabulations at the official residence of the Prime Minister of India for two days. They established once again that four of our fundamental postulates about BJP and RSS are absolutely correct. The first is that RSS is not a cultural organisation, its as political as any other organisation in the country. The second postulate is that the RSS is the engine and the BJP is only a bogie. The third postulate is that the real force behind the throne is RSS and Vajpayee is only a show boy. The fourth is, here is a Prime Minister of India who needs endorsement of RSS for all the policies that his Government pursues, be they social, economic or whatever. In our view, this meeting clinchingly proves the organic connection between the RSS and the BJP.

- Tom Vadakkan,
Media Secretary