The Hindu : Congress ridicules BJP's `feel good' claim

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Mar 17, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Congress ridicules BJP's `feel good' claim

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, MARCH 16. The Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president, Chaudhary Prem Singh, today ridiculed the "feel good'' claim of the NDA Government and said that the Congress would rout the Bharatiya Janata Party in the coming Lok Sabha polls. He also ridiculed the Union Minister of Sports and Youth Welfare, Vijay Goel, for having shifted his Parliamentary constituency in view of the strong resentment prevailing against him in Chandni Chowk.

In a statement, Mr. Prem Singh also termed the performance of the Union Labour Minister, Sahib Singh Verma, as very poor and accused him of using money and muscle power to influence voters in blatant violation of the model code of conduct in force all over the country. He made light of the banners and posters put up by Mr. Verma claiming that he had done tremendous work in the Outer Delhi Parliamentary constituency.

In fact, Mr. Prem Singh alleged that Mr. Verma had tried to shift his seat from Delhi to Rajasthan but his request was turned down by the BJP central leadership and he had been forced to contest once again from his present seat. Interestingly, even while the Congress is yet to decide its candidate for Outer Delhi, Mr. Prem Singh said the Outer Delhi people have made up their mind to elect a son of the soil from the Congress party. He said this election would prove to be the Waterloo of Mr. Verma.

As for Mr. Goel, the DPCC president said if the feel good factor was so good all over the country then why did Mr. Goel change his seat from Chandni Chowk to Sadar. Even this will not help Mr.Goel's cause and he would have to bite the dust from the Sadar constituency also. He said in both the Sadar and South Delhi Parliamentary seats, the BJP was faced with severe infighting and their own partymen were gearing up to defeat the official candidates. The Congress, he said, would not have to do much and the misdeeds of the South Delhi Member of Parliament, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, would ensure his defeat at the hustings. He charged the Delhi BJP president, Harsh Vardhan, of making baseless allegations and having no issue to raise against the Congress Government in the polls. Mr. Prem Singh said the Congress will contest the Lok Sabha polls on the basis of its strength and the performance of the Sheila Dikshit Government during the past more than five years. He said the Congress was poised to register an emphatic win in Delhi and other parts of the country and the feel good would turn into a feel bad factor for the Vajpayee Government.

Meanwhile, in another development, the Delhi Bahujan Samaj Party general secretary, Subhash Bairava, and the Delhi Rashtriya Kranti Party president, Surender Tyagi, today joined the Congress party along with their supporters. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Bairava said that the future of the Dalits was only secure in the hands of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, and the BSP was doing nothing but to fool the people and its cadres by making false promises.

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