Sonia Gandhi: BJP should introspect before raising fingers.

Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Monday kick started the election campaign for the Congress in poll-bound Himachal Pradesh on Monday by addressing a huge rally in Mandi. The Congress President slammed the BJP for its doublespeak on corruption and also alleged that the present state government did not do anything for the development of the hill state.

“These days BJP is talking big about tackling corruption when there is rampant corruption in the states ruled by them, from top to bottom. Their fight against corruption is just a show off. Do you think the BJP is serious about corruption? In fact, they are not against graft but are against the Congress. Before they raise a finger against others on corruption they should first introspect”, said Sonia Gandhi.

Sonia Gandhi continued her address by firing a volley of questions on the ruling BJP in the state; “What BJP did for this state in the past five years? Who runs the education industry here? Why the state of affairs of the roads is so pathetic here? Why there are no improvement in agriculture, tourism and other industries?  Why the educated youth are jobless here? Why there are no sufficient teachers in schools and adequate doctors in hospitals?” and added “Why this happened here because there is a huge gap between the promises and actual work of the BJP”.

 Sonia Gandhi reiterated that the Congress has acted sternly in dealing with corruption. “It is very sad that  corruption has spread in the entire system like a cancer. But, I want to ask you who brought the crucial legislation of Right To Information, which is a powerful tool to fight corruption?  Did the BJP enact it? It was the UPA which brought the RTI Act to tackle corruption. Who took stringent legal actions against those who were proved corrupt? It was the Congress.  We made a strong Lokpal Bill to fight corruption and got it passed in the Lok Sabha. But who stopped the passage of the same in the Rajya Sabha? It was the BJP which stalled it” she said explaining the double-standard of  BJP on corruption.

Taking on the BJP led state government the UPA Chairperson argued, “When the Centre has been serious to put in its efforts to control the price rise, are the state governments not having a similar responsibility to reduce the burden of people? Why Himachal Government did not reduce VAT? When the Congress run state governments increased the limit of gas cylinders from 6 to 9, to benefit my sisters there, why the state government here could not take such a step?”

Sonia Gandhi also alleged that the Central funds to the tune of Rs 10,000 crore allocated to the state had lapsed as the BJP government did not make adequate efforts to implement various Central schemes in the state. “The UPA Government had released crores of rupees for Himachal Pradesh also, without any discrimination. Central funds to the tune of Rs. 10,000 crore allocated to the State had lapsed as the BJP government did not make adequate efforts to implement various Central schemes in the State and the benefits of these welfare schemes could not reach the poor” she said.

 

“It is up to you to decide whether you want to suffer more, like you have been in the past five years. Nehru Ji, Indira Ji and Rajiv Ji always had a special concern for Himachal Pradesh and they had contributed a lot for the development of this beautiful place and following their footsteps the Congress and its leadership have been taking forward the the good works. No one else other than Congress can ensure progress and welfare for the people here” assured the Congress President while concluding her address.