Sonia Gandhi to take new Sankalp tomorrow
by Pankaj Yadav

     Rajiv Nagar (Hyderabad): The much-awaited speech of Congress party president Sonia Gandhi indicating the future of the party at the second day of the 82nd plenary session of the AICC was deferred for tomorrow. Presenting her concluding remarks here today, the Congress party chief said that tomorrow, which is the last day of the session, she would speak at length and make a new commitment before the Congress workers. "Kal ek naya sankalp ka din hoga," (tomorrow will be a day of new resolutions) she said amid cheers from the Congress delegates as the day's proceedings came to an end. "All the four resolutions - political, economic, agriculture and foreign affairs - were passed unanimously. The Prime Minister and all the Congress Chief Ministers are here and I hope that they would take a note of whatever was said by the speakers here throughout the day. Tomorrow we will meet again, and the delegates from the PCCs will be given a chance to express their views," Sonia said, adding that "I and Pradham Mantri ji will also speak at length tomorrow."

    However, the Congress chief was non-committal on the much-awaited speech from her son and MP, Rahul Gandhi, which is slated for tomorrow. On many occasions throughout the day, Congressmen present on the occasion demanded that Rahul should come and address them. Not once but twice, Rahul baba had to come on the dias to pacify the agitated Congressmen. "I said this in the morning and I am saying it again that I will speak tomorrow. Please maintain discipline and let the senior leaders speak today," he appealed to the Congress delegates after he climbed up the podium earlier in the morning. The time for Rahul's "dialogue" with the Congressmen has not been fixed yet. "It is for sure that Rahul ji will speak tomorrow, but the time will be fixed later on," senior Congressman Digvijay Singh said while addressing presspersons this afternoon. A 16-page draft on economic resolution and agriculture, which was passed today, will be adopted tomorrow at the concluding session of the AICC plenary.

    Endorsing the demand of the Left parties against disinvesting profit-making PSUs, the Congress in its economic resolution asked the Centre to strengthen the 'navaratna' companies and sustain resilience of the economy to achieve a growth rate of 10 per cent during the Eleventh Plan period. The resolution also called for "selective and case-by-case approach" towards disinvestment of public sector units (PSUs), strengthening domestic retail trade, transparent norms in allowing foreign direct investments (FDI) and legislative support for implementing affirmative action for weaker sections in private sector. On FDIs, the ruling party sought to implement transparency and encouraging the investment flow into new projects. The resolution moved by former Karnataka Chief Minister Veerappa Moily, sought to bring to the interests of the rural poor to the centre-stage of the ruling party's economic policy. In its resolution for International affairs, the Congress party has asked Islamabad to dismantle the terrorist infrastructure completely. The party called upon the UPA Government not to make any compromise with the country's security. The draft resolution spoke about India's relations with all major countries as well as those in its neighbourhood. It also took note of the ties between India and various international groupings, like ASEAN, NAM, European Union, United Nations and the Commonwealth. On India's relationship with China, the Congress party commended the conclusion of an agreement for the settlement of the boundary dispute between the two countries. On ties with the United States, the resolution said that the July 18 agreement on civil nuclear energy cooperation constituted a significant diplomatic achievement.

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