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JUSTICE WILL BE DONE TO VIDARBHA

PAUNI: The Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi on October 4 kickstarted the Congress campaign for the Maharashtra Assembly polls. At her first public meeting in the tribal constituency in Bhandara district of Vidarbha, the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, sought votes in her name.

"The vote for the Congress candidates is vote for Smt. Sonia Gandhi who has done us proud by her sacrifice of the Prime Minister's post in the great tradition of the Nehru-Gandhi family," Shri Shinde said in the presence of Smt. Gandhi.

Smt. Gandhi said: "I am not making any big promise but in the coming days justice would be done to Vidarbha. I know that the people of Vidarbha have their own problems and aspirations." She would talk to the Centre to ensure that the irrigation project of Indira Sagar in Vidarbha was completed soon after the election.

Smt. Gandhi suggested that the party pays serious attention to the problem of naxalites in the state. Stressing the importance of having a cooperative Government at the Centre, she said at Gadchiroli it was important for States to work in tandem with the Centre so that policies for the welfare of the people could be implemented.

"Some people have strayed and adopted a path of violence. After elections all issues will be looked into seriously." Gadchiroli, which has over 70 per cent forest cover, nestles between Andhra Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. The corridor is said to be used by left-wing extremists.

The Congress president said the lack of development in this area was primarily due to the Forest Conservation Act. The point was earlier raised by the former Congress MP, Shri Naresh Pugulia.

She underlined the special attention the party and its leaders had paid to tribals and the Dalits and promised that the party would implement time-bound welfare measures.

In keeping with the joint manifesto with the Nationalist Congress party, Smt. Gandhi spoke about policies the Government considered necessary for the uplift of the downtrodden.

She emphasized that unlike the 1999 Assembly polls, the Congress had an understanding with the NCP and the Republican Party to ensure the non-division of secular votes.

Smt. Gandhi was accompanied by the Chief Minister, Shri Sushil Kumar Shinde, the AICC general secretary, Smt. Margaret Alva, and the State Congress chief, Smt. Prabha Rau.