SPEECH

Time for Change in U.P : Sonia Gandhi
Address of the Congress President, Smt. Sonia Gandhi, at the Parivartan rally at Lucknow on October 15

You have come from every nook and corner of Uttar Pradesh with a message of the Congress in this Parivartan rally. I welcome you all in the Capital city of this great state.

We were scheduled to meet here on the 4th of this month but the Congress Party in the meanwhile lost a valuable, important and capable leader. We today start out meeting by paying tributes to Shri Madhavrao Scindia.

Today, my brothers and sisters of Uttar Pradesh have gathered here in large numbers with enthusiasm and the will to do something and I am happy to see this.

The name of Uttar Pradesh has always been shining bright in the forefront of our history. Several great leaders and patriots led the nation from this sacred land and they brought us freedom and saved the nation and the state from destructive forces from time to time. It is the result of their efforts that a new transformation has come in the life of the people, and keeping in view this great history, we have organized this "Partivartan" rally.

I have been meeting the people of Uttar Pradesh for the last so many years and they involve me in their struggle. I have come to understand their problems through the common man and Congress workers. Recently in my own constituency of Amethi, a villager showed me his portion of ration which amazingly showed more stones than grains. Similarly, during a visit to Gorakhpur a woman sobbed and told her story of poverty and that she had to pawn her ornaments for survival. Wherever I go, I meet educated graduates who plead for employment or a source of earning.

A weeping farmer once said that all that he wanted was water and power for farming. This is not the story of just a few. The people of Uttar Pradesh are struggling daily weather they are living in the by-lanes of a city or in the villages. But what we are witnessing today is that instead of solving the problems of the people, politics of caste and religion are pulling people in one direction or the other.

The people of Uttar Pradesh are paying a heavy price for bringing BJP and other parties to power. There seems to be no smile on the face of the people of Uttar Pradesh, only pain and sorrow. Why has this happened? We have to look into it and listen to our conscious as to how and when we committed this mistake. We should not lose heart as we have to usher in a new morning into the lives of the people. We have to channelise the power of politics for the welfare of the people instead of craving for power. And in doing so with our experience and our firm determination we must bring in a new wave of hope and understanding amongst our brothers and sisters of the state.

Morally the elections should have been held this month, but how long will the BJP and its allies would avoid it? The character of the government will not change by merely changing the leaders. The problems of the people cannot be tackled by making new promises. The betrayal and injustice meted out to the people cannot be mitigated in a day. The glory and dream of Uttar Pradesh has been shattered. It is your greatness that you have given them a chance which they had been long waiting for. But instead of serving the people they have exploited them, betrayed them and looted them in the name of development. Their hands are full of dirt and even the sacred Ganges will not be able to clean it.

They are the same people who said that nothing has been done in the last fifty years after independence. Where were these people when the Congressmen were sacrificing their lives in the freedom struggle? Where were these people when Panditji was struggling in the making of a new nation? Where were these people when Indiraji was struggling to eradicate poverty and to raise the glory of the nation? Where were these people when Rajivji was tirelessly striving to take the nation into the 21st century? They were busy putting stumble blocks and indulging in character assassination. We must visit each and every house in the state to expose their reality.

Today Uttar Pradesh is at crossroads and the wave of change is renting the air. I am confident that the efforts of the Congressmen will yield good results. Congressmen have an important role to play.

The Congress party will continue with its ideology and keep moving ahead. We are aware of our responsibilities. We have never compromised with religion and caste-based politics. We do not believe in caste politics and always fought against injustice and suppression arising out of casteism. And we shall continue opposing it. Who brought the reservation policy? It was Congress. Why did our leaders put reservation policy in the constitution? Because, they had genuine love for the suppressed and backward classes and they really wanted them to come up. But today that love is replaced by selfishness of some people.

The BJP and its allies remember these issues only during election time or when they want to sow the seeds of differences in society. These people take maximum advantage of social differences. All are aware that offences and false cases were slapped on dalits and minorities in Uttar Pradesh. Congress will never tolerate injustice and atrocities against the weaker sections and minorities.

The backward and the most backward classes should get reservation according to their population. We also want to create reservation for extremely poor minorities and economically-weak higher classes for our brothers and sisters.

We want that the people of Uttar Pradesh march to progress and for this we have to create new development plans and new job opportunities. We have to give special attention to women. The students are a worried lot and the teachers are sad on account of functioning of the government. These shortcomings have to be removed. We have to place India on par with the developed world in the fields of information and communication.

Due to the shortage of government jobs, closure of industries and factories lakhs of labourers are without jobs. Our weaver brethrens are also facing many problems.

The effects of this sad situation has its deep impact on our villages and farmers. The prices have risen manifold. The farmer does not get appropriate price for his produce despite not getting water and electricity. The purchasing price of their produce is fixed by commission agents. You are all aware of the plight of the farmers producing sugar cane and potatoes.

During the past decade the state governments have made crime and corruption as their trade. Poor governance is writ large everywhere. Who does not know that the present government was established on the foundation of corruption. Corruption at the Centre is before the nation.

The situation is such today that the responsibility of national security has been entrusted to a person who had to resign earlier on corruption charges. Such an attitude towards national security is very shameful. Now, it is necessary to change this set-up and bring back Congress to power. The Congress party has qualified and experienced workers who would chart out elaborate developmental plans that would benefit the people.

We are proud of the fact that the Congress party has its governments in eleven states today which are serving the people by their progressive and developmental policies. I am confident that if we move together a similar kind of prosperity will surely be seen in Uttar Pradesh.

The present situation of the world is before you. The world is today standing at a new and serious crossroads of history and it will have an impact on the whole world and on us too.

You are aware that India has been facing the problem of terrorism for the last so many years. Who could have experienced the pain of terrorism more than us? Terrorism had snatched away leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Indiraji and Rajivji from amongst us. Thousands of innocent killed in Jammu and Kashmir in the last ten to twelve years. We are making efforts to weed out terrorism from our country and the world. We and other big nations should ensure that innocent people are not made the target of terrorism.

Nothing can be solved through violence. Terrorism is in no manner a part of any religion and it will be wrong to equate it with religion. This is why Gandhiji showed the world the path of truth and non-violence. This is the path of humanity. This is the right path and this is the path of the Congress.

We are one nation, our soul is one and our aspiration is one. We are proud of our unity; in it lies our progress and in it lies our future. Our aim is not limited to victory in the elections, our goal is the victory of harmony and fraternity. And treading on this path we have to reach our goal, and write a new history of Uttar Pradesh.

I hope that you all will cooperate and support us in this great endeavour.