Karnataka   

Karnataka needs a stable government, says Sonia

MANGALORE: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Tuesday promised a stable government in Karnataka if the party was voted to power.

Addressing an 8,000-strong crowd at Nehru Maidan here, she said the need of the hour was a stable government that could stay in power for five years, and the State’s history suggested that only the Congress fitted the bill. The party would ensure all-round development of the State.

In an indirect reference to the Bharatiya Janata Party, she said it practised a brand of politics that divided society and spread hatred on the basis of caste and creed and religion. The Congress’s other opponent (Janata Dal-S) practised the politics of opportunism.

Karnataka had been on the path of progress when the Congress was in power, but it was now moving backward. She promised that special attention would be paid to Mangalore. The UPA government had sanctioned a Rs.40,000-crore ONGC complex in the district. More such projects were in the offing.

Former Chief Minister S.M. Krishna regretted that the State’s progress had faltered because of politics that saw governance as a business to make money. Senior Congress leader B. Janardhana Poojary welcomed the gathering. Former Chief Minister M. Veerappa Moily translated Ms. Gandhi’s speech into Kannada. Union Minister of State for Labour and Employment Oscar Fernandes, Maharashtra Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh and All India Congress Committee general secretary Prithviraj Chavan were present.

Raichur Staff Correspondent writes:

Earlier addressing an election rally in Koppal, Ms. Gandhi said her party needed a clear mandate in these elections to form a stable government in Karnataka.

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