Saturday, November 29, 2008

Sonia slams Mizo govt for BJP link

SAMIR K. PURKAYASTHA

Kolasib, Nov. 28: Congress president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi today lambasted the Mizoram National Front (MNF) government for associating itself with the BJP, which had harassed the Christians in states like Orissa and Karnataka.

Turning the heat on the ruling party at an election rally here, about 85km from the state capital Aizawl this afternoon, Sonia said the government had failed on all fronts and it was time for Mizoram to vote for a change.

Earlier in the day, the Congress president addressed an election rally at Lunglei where posters had been put up questioning what she had been doing when Christians were being persecuted in Orissa and Karnataka.

Apparently reacting to the posters, the Congress chief hit out at the MNF for its association with the BJP as a constituent of the NDA.

She said the BJP had inflicted great damage on the secular credentials of the country.

“It is only the Congress which is the true guardian of the religious beliefs of all communities in the country,” she said to the several thousands who had thronged the only meeting ground here.

Sonia said the MNF had been in power for a decade but had done precious little. “Mizoram should say enough is enough and vote for change,” she said.

The Congress president said the MNF government had ruined whatever the Congress had built, with infrastructure being the main victim of its misrule.

Sonia alleged that the Centre had disbursed an unprecedented amount of funds for Mizoram but it was misappropriated. “There was just no development,” she said.

She promised that the scenario would change drastically if her party came to power.

She said the 350-bed hospital in Aizawl would be upgraded to a referral hospital or even a medical college while no stone would be left unturned to complete the Tuirial hydroelectric project.

“Only the Congress knows how to run a government,” she added for good measure.

Dressed in a red-and-white puanchei, the Mizo version of an Assamese mekhela, and a black sweater, Sonia evoked nostalgia when she recollected her visit to the state with her late husband and former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and her children in 1987.

“I have very special memories of Mizoram, its pristine beauty and unspoilt air,” she said echoing her son and Lok Sabha MP Rahul Gandhi’s feelings on the latter’s recent visit to the state.

Rahul, who is also the AICC general secretary, recalled pleasant memories of Mizoram during his daylong campaign.

Source: http://www.telegraphindia.com/1081129/jsp/northeast/story_10179548.jsp

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