Letter to Congress Workers

Dear Friends,

September has been a dark month. We have lost two stalwarts of the Congress party within a few days. Shri Vijaybhaskara Reddy passed away in Hyderabad on September 27, 2001. He was one of our senior-most leaders whose dedication to the party and its ideals was well-known. An innovative administrator for more than half a century, he dominated the political scene in Andhra Pradesh. His tenure as Central minister earned him the admiration and loyalty of all those who worked with him. He will be sorely missed.

The tragic and untimely death of Shri Madhavrao Scindia in a plane crash on September 30, 2001 came as a shock not only to the Congress party but to the entire nation. A promising career was sadly cut short. He represented the new face of the Congress rooted in the cherished values of our party.

The recent attacks on the World Trade Centre in New York and Pentagon in Washington have brought into sharp focus the urgent need to root out this menace through an international coalition in which the United Nations should play a leading role. Our sympathies are with the people of the United States and the bereaved families. We know how they must feel. We have ourselves been the target of terrorism for almost 27 years.

On October 2, we celebrated Gandhiji’s 132nd birthday and paid homage to his memory. On the same day we remembered Shri Lal Bahadur Shastri on his 97th birthday. Sardar Vallabhai Patel’s birth anniversary was also observed on the 31st. These great names continue to inspire us and we shall do our best to live up to their ideals.