The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : `Comrades of Congress'

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 21, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

`Comrades of Congress'

By Our Staff Reporter

BHIMAVARAM, JAN. 20. The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, sees close similarities between the Gandhian philosophy of the Congress and the Maoist ideology of left wing extremist groups.

Dr. Reddy told a press conference here on Thursday that "they (the Maoists) are fighting for liberation of some areas while the Congress is striving for liberation of the whole country from maladies like poverty, hunger and backwardness.'' By following the Gandhian philosophy the Congress had succeeded in liberating the country from British colonial rule, he recalled.

YSR quotes PV

``Philosophies are same but only the means chosen by the parties to accomplish their tasks are different,'' he said. The Maoists believed that liberation of people was possible only through the barrel of the gun, while the Congress believed in "liberation through liberalism."

Dr. Reddy turned nostalgic recalling a battle of wits involving the former Prime Minister, P.V. Narasimha Rao, and an anti-reform critic in Parliament to which he was witness in his capacity as member.

When the critic sought a blanket ban on manufacturing washing machines on the plea that it would deprive poor women working as domestic help of employment, PV shot back saying the underlying philosophy of reforms was to liberate womenfolk from all kinds of drudgery.

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