The Hindu : National : Chhattisgarh elections a fight between two ideologies: Sonia

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Chhattisgarh elections a fight between two ideologies: Sonia

Aarti Dhar

She addresses her first election rally in the State

— Photo: Akhilesh Kumar.

FINAL APPEAL: Congress president Sonia Gandhi during an election meeting at Kharsiya town in Raigarh district on Tuesday, the last day of campaign for the second phase of the Chhattisgarh Assembly elections.

RAIGARH: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said the Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh are not a fight between two political parties, but between two ideologies.

Addressing an election rally at the Kharsia constituency in Raigarh district here on Tuesday, Ms. Gandhi said the Bharatiya Janata Party believed in the ideology of fundamentalism, division, hatred and destruction, whereas the Congress believed in secularism, development and peace.

And it was for the people to decide which way they wanted to vote.

This was Ms. Gandhi’s first election rally in the State. Her rallies had to be cancelled thrice earlier and instead All-India Congress Committee general secretary Rahul Gandhi addressed several rallies.

Pained at the “state of affairs” in Chhattisgarh, Ms. Gandhi said she had heard only stories of corruption and scandals in the past five years. “Naxalism has destroyed this peaceful State, and education and health infrastructure is a shambles. People are no longer free to live their lives the way they want to,” she said. “The Congress wants to give you a dedicated and committed government that can fulfil the aspirations of the people.”

According to Ms. Gandhi, whatever development Chhattisgarh had seen came about when the Congress was in power here or at the Centre. “We [Centre] gave Rs.8,000 crore to the State but you should ask the government where that money has gone.”

She pointed out that if the National Rural Employment Guarantee had been implemented properly, the situation in the State would have been different. “We never gave step-motherly treatment to the State just because it was ruled by the BJP,” she said.

Criticising the BJP for making false promises and failing to fulfil people’s dreams, she said the Congress also made promises but only those which it could fulfil.

Ms. Gandhi spoke of the Unorganised Sector Workers Bill, waiving off of farmers’ loans, granting legal land right to forest dwellers and scholarships for students that would benefit the poor and the marginalised sections.

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