The Hindu : NDA is a leaky boat, Congress tried and trusted: YC leader

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Feb 25, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

NDA is a leaky boat, Congress tried and trusted: YC leader

By R. Sampath

VISAKHAPATNAM, FEB. 24. "There are two boats available to cross the river. One is painted in nice orange colour but it is leaky. The other one is a tricolour, tried and trusted boat. Which would you choose to reach the other bank?''

So quipping, the Youth Congress national council member, C.R. Kesavan, told this scribe in an exclusive interview: "The leaky boat is the National Democratic Alliance and the T-T-T boat is the Congress. The Indian voter with his robust commonsense would certainly not prefer the leaky boat this time.'' (Mr. Kesavan is the great-grandson of C. Rajagopalachari who had used the same `leaky boat' analogy in the freedom struggle era at the Tripuri session of the All-India Congress Committee asking party members to choose between Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi as their leader).

Being a descendant of Rajaji, who founded the Swatantra Party in the late 1950s and was a trenchant critic of the Congress till he breathed his last, how could Mr. Kesavan be a staunch Congressman? "That is my `swatantra' (free will),'' he said and added that Rajaji never compelled his kith and kin to toe his line.

He said the record of the NDA rule at the Centre "has been dismal'' on agriculture, food and nutrition and health care fronts, the Youth Congress leader said: Mr. Kesavan pooh-poohed the claim of the Bharatiya Janata Party leaders that the NDA Government's achievements during the last five years had surpassed those registered during the 50-year rule of the Congress and said it should not be forgotten that "my party Government had retrieved the economy'' from a morass in 1991.

"The BJP and its NDA allies have been accusing the Congress of corruption day in and day out, but the former are involved in a variety of scams like Tehelka, coffin deal, Unit Trust of India, share market and, lately, stamp paper. On the contrary, the late Rajiv Gandhi, who was charged with accepting payoffs in the Bofors gun deal, was acquitted by the Delhi High Court,'' he pointed out.

He said the Telugu Desam Party Government was replicating the "NDA follies'' at the State level and described the TDP Vijaybheri as "a gimmick to hoodwink'' people.

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