SONIA LAMBASTS BJP'S "MISGUIDED ETHOS" AT CAMPAL RALLY From Frederick Noronha
PANAJI, May 23: Buoyed by resurgent Congress showing in state polls, party chief Sonia Gandhi lambasted the BJP, saying it lacked morality, ran partisan governments where ever elected to power, and were busy making "efforts to spread hatred among different communities". She promised support to the Centre "in efforts made to deal with cross-border terrorism" also cautioned against "unprincipled elements" who may try to take advantage of the Indo-Pakistan border tension to bring in more divisions among our people, as she put it. Mrs Gandhi's frontal assault on the BJP saw her charging it with a having a "misguided ethos". She said the party was "capable only in one area, and that is double-speak". Her sharp attack on the party comes as the Congress desperately tries to outdo the BJP in Goa, a state where the latter ousted Congress from power by encouraging defectors to cross over and called mid-term elections within three years of the past poll. Goa's is proving to be an uncharacteristically bitter battle, between the main-two nationwide parties, even as the regional parties seem to be sidelined here. Within minutes of the ending of Mrs Gandhi's rally -- well-attended by local standards -- the BJP vice-president Subhash Salkar lodged a complaint with the Chief Electoral Office, alleging the Congress had got "hundreds of buses and trucks" from neighbouring Maharashtra and Karnataka "loaded with people from these states", leading the BJP to apprehend "large-scale bogus voting by people from outside the State during the elections". Eyewitnesses said police were seen scrutinising some vehicles headed for the Opposition party's rally. BJP, which won just 10 seats in the 40-member assembly in June 1999, is trying desperately to stay on in power, which it last time got through defections and floor-crossings. For its part, the Congress is trying to win the first election nationwide after the Gujarat carnage, to make the point that the voters are fed-up with the right-wing and "divisive" politics of the BJP. Sonia sought to play on voters' sentiments, reminding them that Congress leaders had been decisive in ending Portuguese colonial rule here, offering Goa an Opinion Poll (in 1967, to decide it's fate), and also in making Konkani a national language in the 'eighties. "This is a most critical moment for the people of Goa. In the forthcoming elections, you will be voting for the continuing of the heritage of Goa. The heritage of Goa is at stake," she argued. She accused the BJP of running a "partisan government at the Centre", and termed Gujarat as "an assault on basic human values". Speaking in English, Mrs Gandhi argued: "Even in Goa, for 18 years, you never had a communal problem (under Congress rule). Now, all other issues are secondary, the most important is secularism". She blasted the BJP for lacking in morality, and said: "It is better they stop giving us in the Congress party lecturers on morality. We know where they stand..." Mrs Gandhi stressed that the Congress currently rules 14 out of India's 28 states, while the BJP is in power in just a few. Sensitive to local concerns on Goa's problems under Congress rule, the party leader promises tourism's growth "in an environmentally sustainable manner", a massive build-up of infrastructure in terms of roads and bridges, a boost for the IT sector, trying to build Goa into a "centre for exports", and rainwater harvesting and drinking water projects in a state that gets 300 cms of rain a year but still suffers shortages of water. "There are many from Goa who live abroad, either as NRIs or as businessmen. They are doing extremely well. They could make a tremendious contribution to Goa. But this needs systematic planning," she said. Mrs Gandhi also stressed the importance of steps on the HIV/AIDS front. "I cannot tell you how much the forthcoming elections are crucial for Goa and the Congress party," she said. "Vote for the composite identity of Goa, one that is proud of its past. We need a clear and decisive mandate against those who want to destroy all that is great and noble about Goa and India," she argued. Speaking earlier, two prominent leaders who had jumped to the BJP and did a return to the Congress just before the polls -- ex-BJP deputy CM Ravi Naik and ex-BJP IT minister Ramakant Khalap -- blasted the party which they shared power with for 16 months. Naik urged the 'bahujan samaj' (so-called lower caste groups) to fight its 'ghulamgiri' (slavery), while Khalap asked: "Why should Goans be divided into two camps (of Konkani and Marathi) on the basis of language?" Naik, incidentally, has been built up by various parties as a leader of the populous 'bhandari samaj', a subaltern caste group. Khalap, a former Indian union junior law minister, has been a crucial proponent of the Marathi side of the Konkani-versus-Marathi language battles in the past, with the Congress trying to cash in on various appeals that would work with diverse segments of the electorate. (ENDS) =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-W-E-B---S-I-T-E-=-=-= To Subscribe/Unsubscribe from GoaNet | http://www.goacom.com/goanet =================================================================== For (un)subscribing or for help, Contact: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Dont want so many e=mails? Join GoaNet-Digest instead ! =-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-= Help support non-commercial projects in Goa by advertizing!! * * * * Your ad here !!
