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Congress targets BJP on Women's Bill

By Our Staff Correspondent

DEHRA DUN, MARCH 28 .In a major bid to woo women voters who outnumber men in Uttaranchal, the ruling Congress has embarked upon a campaign to target the BJP- led NDA Government for having deliberately failed to get the Women's Reservation Bill passed in Parliament.

"The BJP never likes to encourage women in politics that is why the Government put the Bill in cold storage after bowing down to the pressure tactics used by a group of MPs led by the Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, Uma Bharti', said the Uttaranchal Minister for PWD and Information, Indira Hirdeyesh.

The people know that the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, had extended unconditional support to the bill which was used by the BJP simply to fool the women of this country, she said.

Replying to public statements by the Union Minister and BJP nominee from the Pauri seat, Bhuwan Chandra Khanduri, that the State Government had not utilized Central funds for development, Ms Hirdeyesh, spoke at length about the massive road building exercise going on in Uttaranchal. " A sum of Rs 1700 crores had been sanctioned for the construction of 3,498 roads and 248 bridges. Work on 1,900 roads and 85 bridges is already in progress. This had been done despite the step- motherly treatment meted out to Uttaranchal by the NDA Government", she said.

On the losses that may accrue due to the delay in announcing the Congress candidates for the five Lok Sabha seats in the State, Ms Hirdeyesh said party workers would fan out to distant areas of the region within a few days to apprise the public of the development works ushered in by the Narain Dutt Tiwari Government and the non- performance and blunders of the BJP led NDA Government. "We are sure to win all the five seats on development issues'', she said.

On the serious infighting in the party for tickets, Ms Hirdeyesh said that it showed the large number of powerful candidates the Congress had. The different groups will however unite and work for the official candidate once the names are announced.

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