Regain the lost citadel in the North: Sonia
by Pankaj Yadav

    Rajiv Nagar (Hyderabad): Congress president Sonia Gandhi has exhorted her partymen to strive and win back the party's political fortune in northern India. May be in a reference to the prevailing situation in Uttar Pradesh, where the party has been struggling to regain its traditional votebank for over two decades, Sonia said: "There is a dire need to assume power in North India. I know it's not a magic wand, it will be accomplished with your efforts. It will be a long and struggling phase. I also know that I will have to give more attention in these states," she said while addressing her partymen at the 82nd Plenary Session being held on the outskirts of Hyderabad. At present the Samajwadi Party (SP) is at the helm of affairs in Uttar Pradesh. Both the Congress and the SP are UPA allies, but have a love-hate relationship. The bone of contention is the state of UP, where the SP has a comfortable voteback based on caste lines and the Congress is keen to revive its traditional votebank, which it lost in early 1990s, when Mulayam Singh Yadav became Chief Minister for the first time. The other states to which the Congress president apparently referred to are Bihar, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan.

    Gandhi also praised the incumbent United Progressive Alliance Government for its achievements since its assumption of power at the Centre in May 2004. She particularly lauded the Government's initiative in bringing the Rural Employment Guarantee Act into force, which she said would ensure work for people in the rural areas for at least 100 days in a year. The Congress president also exhorted her party workers and leaders to come together to strengthen the party. "We have Congress workers in every nook and corner of the country who give us strength. The Congress Party has given a new stature to the country. We now have historical Rural Employment Guarantee scheme, which for the first time in history, gives guarantees for employment. We have the new Right to Information Act as the main weapon to the Aam Admi, which ensures the common man has an awareness of his rights," she said. She once again called upon her partymen to lead a simple life and desist from wasteful expenditure and ostentatious arrangments for marriages and other functions and festivals. She said that people look upon the Congressmen to set examples by leading a simple life because the party follows the principles of Mahatma Gandhi. Earlier, a couple of months ago also Sonia had written letters to all the PCCs exhorting her partymen and leaders to draw inspiration from "austerity and humility" of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh and lead a simple life. "I feel sad when I see ostentatious birthday and marriage parties arranged by the Congressmen. It appears as if our sympathy for the poor is a cruel joke. Many of our Congress colleagues use their political posts for their own personal favours. It is contrary to the lifestyle our former leaders led. I would appeal to the Congressmen to follow a particular code of conduct and maintain the decorum of the traditions of the Congress set over the past 125 years," Gandhi said. "Ours is the biggest political organisation in the country, so it becomes our responsibility to change the public opinion towards the politicians and political parties," she said, adding that it was high time when the use of money and muscle power was ended and clean politics paved the way.

     She further claimed that the Congress had always set high standards of maintaining dignity in public life. As far as the Bharatiya Janata Party is concerned, Gandhi accused it of fomenting and encouraging partisan and divisive politics. "Unlike the BJP, we do not play partisan politics when it came to addressing the sufferings of the people," she said. Gandhi asked party workers to ensure that the programmes of the UPA Government at the Centre should not be "usurped" or "subverted" by the non-Congress Governments in various states. She asked partymen to organise the people to see that they got whatever they were entitled to. Talking about women reservations, the Congress president said that the party is actively pursuing this goal, and added that she was determined to see that the party included more and more women in politics. At present, she said that 35 percent of women were occupying representative position in local development bodies across the country. It was also important to provide succor and support to the underprivileged sections of society, she added. Expressing her appreciation for the role played by the armed forces, she said that they not only protect the common man and safeguard the country's borders, but have also rendered yeoman services in times of natural calamities like floods and earthquakes etc. She also urged the party leaders and workers to focus on fundamental needs like education and assess economic realities, adding that the younger generation of Congressmen could play a significant role in this regard.

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