Speech

Only Congress Feels For People

First of all, I congratulate the Rural Development Department and the sports branch of the Education Department of the Delhi Govt. for jointly building such a big stadium in the rural area. As has been informed just now, there is no other stadium as big as this in Delhi’s rural areas and for this I congratulate the Delhi Govt. and for naming this as Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. The importance of naming a place lies in the fact, what relation the associated name has got to do with the work there?

Charges not Answered - Sonia Gandhi Winding up the two-day debate on the no-confidence Motion, Smt. Sonia Gandhi said the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government failed to answer any of the nine charges put forth by her and it owed an explanation to the people. She said the no-confidence motion was aimed at exposing the Government and not replacing it. Instead of replying to her specific questions, the speakers of the ruling coalition stooped to level personal attacks on her. "main jab bhi logon ki dukh taklif ko uthati hoon, to moojh par niji arop lagate hai" ("whenever I talk about the people’s sorrows and hardships, they resort to personal attacks on me") she said. "Whatever charges are made against the Government were based on proof drawn from official figures, statistics and Parliamentary Standing Committee reports. The charges were regarding slack defence preparedness, faulty foreign policy, deteriorating state economy and increasing unemployment."Taking a dig at the Prime Minister, she said, "Kavita ki panktion se daliton aur naojawanon ko rojgar nahi milega" (merely reciting poems will not ensure employment to the unemployed).

The stadium is related to sports and youths. Rajiv Gandhi was a youth leader and prime minister. The truth is that he was leader of the new generation, leader of a new century, leader of a new future. The question did not arise while he was living who will be the leader of the country (India) in coming years? He had some dreams for the country and to fulfill these dreams he had full faith in the new generation of the country. That is why he took more interest in the affairs of youths like sports, education and employment. Most of you are be aware that when Indiraji was Prime Minister in 1982 then Rajiv Gandhi was only a Member of Parliament and during that period the ASIAD Games were organized in Delhi. To make the ASIAD Games successful, Rajiv worked day and night. Construction of Fly-overs began in Delhi during that period so that commuters should not feel inconvenience. I am pleased that our present government in Delhi has established a record in building Fly-overs. In a way there is an idea and motivation of Rajivji behind this move.

Rajivji had developed his country in various fields. He paid maximum attention to improving the lot of dalits, tribals, the poor and the weaker sections of society.

When our country got independence there were no industries and factories as they are now, foodgrain production was low and there were no facilities and comforts of life. The conditions were so poor that we did not manufacture even a needle and every thing was imported. As a result of the pledge and the vision of leaders of the Congress party and the nation-builders we have made tremendous progress in all walks of life and are able to stand with pride before the comity of nations. It is another matter that the present Central Government under the BJP leadership is unable to preserve this legacy. To hide its failures the BJP blames the Congress for everything.

There is a proverb : "A kettle calling the pot black." BJP can’t establish a new industry but the big industries and units established during the Congress regime for bringing prosperity in the country, to give jobs to youths and the public units running in profit are now being sold at a throwaway price to private parties. Why is it so? What is the hurry? For whose benefit is this being done? It is a matter of concern, there must be a reason. There is something fishy.

Our farmers with their toil filled the govt’s granaries with foodgrain. But there is no proper system to sell their farm-produce. The govt’s foodgrain is not reaching the poor. Who is responsible for all this? You must have heard four days ago that on behalf of the Opposition I moved a no-confidence motion against the NDA govt in Parliament. I brought a nine-point charge-sheet against the govt.

The government could not reply properly to the charges. Even the Prime Minister went on saying that we should not level charges against the govt. Now, you yourself think : are we sitting in Parliament to praise the govt? The job of praising the Central Govt. is that of the parties which are involved in its good and bad work. We have always extended our hand of cooperation to the govt. whenever the issues crop up for the well-being of the country and for the poor and the weaker sections of society. But we cannot pardon the govt. for it being negligent in national security. We cannot pardon the govt. for aiding the forces responsible for spreading hatred and violence in society. We cannot pardon the BJP-govt. for rampant corruption in government, administration and security. We cannot pardon this govt. for putting farmers and farm-labourers in a pitiable condition. We cannot pardon this govt. for causing darkness instead of light in the life of youths. It is not our responsibility to save their chairs. The people who are attached to them should worry about it.

There are Congress governments in Delhi and several states and I am very pleased that they are performing better than the Central govt. Our Delhi govt. has not got full powers, all sorts of hurdles are put by the Central govt. But in spite of that it has undertaken developmental works which are in itself an example. You must be aware that before every election the BJP practices some jugglery. In view of the coming Assembly elections, the BJP-led Central govt. has introduced a Bill in Parliament for giving full-statehood to Delhi. There is nothing in it which will give you relief. There will be no change in the present status, there will be no improvement in the condition of the common man.

A study of the Bill shows that whatever rights the Delhi government has now will not be there after getting the status of a state. What is it, if not deception of the people of Delhi? What is it, if not playing with the feelings of Delhi people?

Power politics is one thing, but there should be room for the pain, suffering and hardships of the people in the hearts of rulers, they should feel the pains of the people. The Congress party has been able to save the people for such a long time because in its heart there is place for the pain of the poor, the downtrodden, the oppressed and the farmers : This is our pledge in future also. For us, this is our greatest duty and this is our political duty. To tread on this path, we seek the love and support of the entire Indian society and I am fully confident that we will definitely get it.

Sonia Gandhi Meets Sharon Congress Stand on Palestine Stays NEW DELHI: The Congress president, Smt. Sonia Gandhi called on Israeli Prime Minister, Shri Ariel Sharon here on September 9. She was accompanied by the Opposition Leader in the Rajya Sabha, Dr. Manmohan Singh, and senior party leader, Shri K. Natwar Singh. Earlier, the Congress said the meeting of Smt. Gandhi with Shri Sharon was absolutely a "diplomatic formality" and the stand of the party on the question of Palestine remained "unchanged and undiluted." Describing Shri Yasser Arafat as a symbol of Palestinian nationalism, party spokesman Shri S. Jaipal Reddy told journalists in the daily briefing that the Congress had often in the past expressed concern over the policies pursued in the West Asia and those concerns continue to remain valid. Asked whether the Congress felt that there could be a change in India’s West Asia policy following Shri Sharon’s visit, he said the party was not privy to the Govt.-level talks, but if the government "does so, it will do so at its own peril and we reserve our right to know the details."