Letter to Congress Workers

The Budget session of Parliament is over. Our members played an active role in both the Rajya Sabha and the Lok Sabha and exposed the BJP-led NDA government on a number of issues of serious concern to the people. The budget has once again revealed the true priorities of this Government. It completely neglected the interests of agriculture and the rural sector. We had the extraordinary spectacle of the Union Agriculture Minister himself going on record saying his Government is simply not bothered about the welfare of kisans and rural India. The long-standing problems and complaints of sugarcane growers in U.P. and elsewhere remain unresolved as increasing import of edible oils continue to undermine the livelihood of lakhs of small and marginal farmers in dryland areas. As a result, the crisis in the agricultural and rural sector continues unabated.

The sad paradox of government godowns overflowing with foodgrain on the one hand and heart-rending malnutrition on the other is yet to receive any significant attention from the BJP-led Central Government. The NDA Government continues to grope in darkness. Its half-hearted attempt to introduce VAT is a case in point. The Government appears to have neither a clear cut strategy nor a viable roadmap.

Our party wanted certain Bills, crucial to the nation’s socio-economic welfare, to be passed in the Budget session. We have all along wanted the Women’s Reservation Bill to be passed. Though our party had extended full support orally and in writing, the government postponed the Bill once again on the excuse of ‘consensus’.

All these acts of omission and commission and the ever-increasing number of scams and scandals surfacing every other day underline the relevance of the Congress party for the well-being of the nation. Indeed, these ominous trends have imposed greater responsibility on our party to work hard and unitedly to put an end to the misrule of the BJP and its allies.

I trust that all of you will organize and participate actively in the Kranti Padayatras scheduled to be held all over the country from 9th to 15th August. This provides an opportunity to educate the people on the chaos created by the NDA regime and ensure their support to secure their liberation from the clutches of parties that have neither principles nor vision.