The Hindu : Tamil Nadu News : AIADMK, BJP failed people: Sonia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Saturday, May 08, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu

AIADMK, BJP failed people: Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

Sonia Gandhi, Congress president, waving to the crowd at an election meeting on the Island Grounds in Chennai on Friday. To her left are the DMK president, M. Karunanidhi, and the Central Chennai candidate, Dayanidhi Maran. — Photo: Vino John

CHENNAI, MAY 7. Asserting that the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK) and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had failed the people, the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, today appealed to the people to vote for the secular combine, which was "committed to the welfare of the common people."

"I can categorically say that the Congress will strive its utmost at all times to ensure the cohesive functioning of the alliance and its continuous success."

Addressing a public meeting on the Island Grounds here, she said the AIADMK had betrayed the trust of every section of Tamil society "from farmers to agricultural workers to powerloom and handloom workers, from students who had their bus passes cancelled to government employees who had been subjected to the most brutal treatment." It had also failed in providing water to the people. The BJP and the AIADMK, "bereft of any issues to take to the people," had resorted to "hurling abuses" on other parties and her family, said Ms. Gandhi. "But to those who abuse me and my family I can only say it is the greatest honour to belong to a family such as mine, a family that has lived and died for the country. As I stand on this soil tonight, the soil in which the blood of my husband has mingled, I can assert that there would be no greater honour for me than to share his fate for the sake of our country."

The Congress president appealed to people to vote for the Democratic Progressive Alliance to ensure "social harmony and peace;" for the "safe and secure future" of farmers, farm labourers, fishermen and weavers. "This will be a vote for further empowering our women. This will be a vote for economic growth, for social justice, a vote for a prosperous India, where all Indians have an equal share." It was the trust the people placed in her that sustained her and helped her face the challenges ahead, said Ms. Gandhi. She said she carried the message of Rajiv Gandhi in her heart and mind.

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam president, M. Karunanidhi, alleged that the police had begun arresting DMK leaders and cadres on one pretext or the other. Citing an example, he said that yesterday a 12-year-old boy was electrocuted at Tiruvottiyur, where he addressed a meeting. The police picked up the municipal chairman. He was remanded to 15 days in custody. Why was the same yardstick not applied in Lucknow, where 22 women died in a stampede, Mr. Karunanidhi asked. He wanted to know whether this was because one law applied to the Prime Minister's constituency and another to the rest of the country.

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