Tuesday, May 21, 2002
Tuesday, May 21, 2002 |
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By Our Special Correspondent
After the first meeting of the reconstituted Pradesh Congress Committee, the AICC secretary, Kamal Nath, who is also in-charge of Gujarat affairs, said that as peace had returned to the riot-torn State and normality had been restored, the Assembly elections should be held at the earliest. Elections are scheduled in the State for February next year. Talking to mediapersons here today, Mr. Kamal Nath said the Congress had earlier opposed the ruling BJP's demand for early elections not because it was scared of facing the electorate but because the State was in the grip of communal violence. Now that the situation was showing signs of improvement, the elections should be held at the earliest but only after the thousands of people still in the relief camps returned to their homes. Expressing confidence that the Congress would win, he said that early elections would be in the interests of the people. "The earliest the BJP is thrown out of power, the better it would be for the people to return to the path of progress and development." In an economic resolution adopted at the meeting, the Congress blamed the "inefficiency and incompetence" of the BJP Government for the tardy progress. The State was facing economic ruination, developmental activities had stopped, industrial growth was at a standstill and the problems of the unemployed and the farming community were on the rise. The State was on the verge of bankruptcy and its debts would reach a staggering Rs. 47,000 crores by the end of the next financial year because of the fiscal indiscipline of the Government, it alleged. It wanted the Government to publish a `white paper' on the economy. Mr. Kamal Nath said that the former Punjab police chief, K.P.S. Gill, had proved his mettle by bringing the situation under control within days of his being sent to the State. The violence could have been stopped at least a fortnight ago if the Centre had not delayed accepting the resolution moved in Parliament by the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi. He wondered why the ruling party at the Centre had chosen to block the passage of the resolution on Gujarat for more than a week in the Lok Sabha since it had accepted the same resolution later in the Rajya Sabha and agreed to take action under Article 355. If the Centre had acted quickly and sent Mr. Gill earlier, the situation would have been markedly different by now, he said. Mr. Kamal Nath claimed that at least 10 BJP MLAs wanted to join the Congress. He did not, however, say whether they would be allowed entry. He regretted the "rhetoric" of the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and other Central leaders and said it was the time to act rather than make "misleading" statements. The Centre should follow what the former Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, had done in 1971 and act decisively like her. The Pradesh Congress President, Amarsinh Chaudhary, said the meeting had decided to organise party conventions in all districts by June 30 and organise executive committee meetings in all regions to pay greater attention to the local problems. Similarly, a `sammelan' of tribals, which would be addressed by Ms. Gandhi, would be held either in Godhra or Dahod.
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