The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : BJP undermining people's verdict, says APCC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, May 18, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

BJP undermining people's verdict, says APCC

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, MAY 17. The APCC has taken exception to some BJP leaders raising the foreign origin issue of the All-India Congress Committee president, Sonia Gandhi, and said they are undermining the people's verdict, which is clearly in favour of the Congress-led coalition.

Addressing a press conference here today, senior Congress leaders — K. Rosaiah, K. Keshav Rao and K. R. Amos — referred to the threat of resignation from the Rajya Sabha held out by the senior BJP leader, Sushma Swaraj, and of running a campaign against Ms. Gandhi by another BJP leader, K. N. Govindacharya, and said: "It shows they have no faith in democracy."

Mr. Rosaiah said the BJP leaders were making such comments, upset by the fact that all their calculations had gone awry. "They have no moral right to criticise. Electing a leader is the prerogative of the Congress party and its allies, having obtained the people's mandate." They said the foreign origin of Ms. Gandhi had ceased to be an issue after the Supreme Court order and her election to the Lok Sabha from Bellary, Amethi and now Rae Bareilly. In separate statements, P. Sudhakar Reddy, APCC general secretary, and P. Padmaraju, political secretary to the APCC president, too condemned the BJP leaders' stand. They wondered why Ms. Swaraj was holding out threats instead of resigning.

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