Soniaji Vows T-State

[praveen187]

Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday asserted that the Congress party, if voted to power, would give priority to Telangana. "We have no objection to the creation of a separate state," she said. Crowds of over a lakh each in Karimnagar and Bhongir heard her.

''The Congress party has no objection to the creation of a separate Telangana state. The Congress is committed on the statehood issue and will take it up on a priority basis,'' the Congress chief said.

In this context, she recalled chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy's statement in the Assembly making the party's stand clear on Telangana and appointment of a joint committee of MLAs and MLCS to look into the issue.  She then turned her guns on TDP and the TRS, saying they had cheated the people of Telangana time and again. “The TDP is today playing the role of an advocate of separate Telangana. But when the party was in power for nine years, it vociferously opposed it. Why did it not advocate a separate Telangana when the then NDA government at the centre was dependent on the TDP?”

Raising her pitch, she plunged the dagger in: “What did they do for Telangana? What action did they take on Telangana? What development did they bring to Telangana?”

Bringing a little emotion into her voice, she asked the crowd to ponder over a few questions.  “Which party fought the Angrezi hukumat? Which party built dams, industries and power stations? Which party nationalised banks? Which party first dream of information technology? Which party brought about the Green Revolution? Which party gave representation to women in panchayat raj?  Which party leaders have laid down their lives for the country?” It was the Congress party alone.

She hit out at L K Advani for calling Manmohan Singh a weak prime minister. She pointed out that Advani was the home minister when his cabinet colleague escorted terrorists to Kandahar. “Perhaps for Advani a strong leader is one during whose tenure as home minister and deputy PM, Parliament was attacked and terrorists were taken out from jail and handed over to hijackers in Afghanistan,” Sonia Gandhi thundered.

She said that in contrast it was the Congress government that mounted diplomatic pressure on Pakistan after the terror attacks in Mumbai and made Pakistan bow its head to the international community and own up the truth. “You have a choice to make. On one side you have a prime minister who is a man of integrity and on the other side a BJP leader who talks of fighting terror but you know what happened during his rule,” she said. 

Seeking another term for the Congress both in the state and at the Centre, she said, “You have to decide for the next five years in which direction Andhra Pradesh and the country should go.  On the one hand you have a chief minister who steered the state towards welfare and development and on the other hand you have anti-farmer making false promises.”

Commending chief minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, Sonia Gandhi said “Andhra Pradesh’s story of spectacular development is being talked about everywhere and Rajasekhara Reddyji is being praised for his efforts.”