'Centre sacrificing national interests'

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, AUG. 20. The All India Congress(I) Committee president, Mrs. Sonia Gandhi, today launched a scathing attack on various constituents of the NDA Government at the Centre for compromising on ideology for the sake of power and asserted that personal agenda had prevailed over national interest.

``The country is today beset with a lot of difficulties. The unity and integrity of the nation is under serious threat from communal forces. These very forces, which are ruling at the Centre, have to a large extent destroyed the secular fabric of the country by pursuing a path of communal disharmony and dividing people on the lines of caste and religion,'' she said while addressing a one-day convention of the All India Congress Seva Dal at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium here.

The ``Sankalp Diwas'' was organised to coincide with the birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

Regretting that the standard of politics in the country had slumped to a new low and the nation faced serious challenges, Mrs. Gandhi lamented that political parties and their leaders today compromised at all levels to stay in power or to grab power. ``It is sad that personal and individual interests are being placed before national interest in the present political scenario,'' she stated.

She said the last few Governments at the Centre had failed to perform at the domestic and international fronts. All developmental works had come to a standstill and people were reeling under a hefty hike in the prices of essential items. The situation had become extremely difficult for the poor and downtrodden as they were finding it difficult to have two square meals under the present regime.

Mrs. Gandhi said in the present deteriorating political scene, the Congress(I) was faced with a big challenge to save the country and its secular credentials from being destroyed by fascist forces.

``It is our responsibility to save the future generations and the people of the country from the continued slide in social harmony. I will not let the Congress(I) deviate from its ideology of working for the betterment of the nation and the people and, at the same time, uniting all secular forces to defeat the evil designs of communal forces,'' she asserted. The AICC(I) president said the Seva Dal had a very important role to play in the depressing scenario that the country faced.

The Seva Dal, she said, was the backbone of the party and its activists should fan out in various parts of the country to indulge in social service and spread the ideology of the Congress party. ``We are thinking in terms of giving some kind of support to all those who work with full devotion and social commitment in the Seva Dal. I do not promise anything at present, but certainly we will explore some possibilities in this regard,'' she added.

Welcoming Mrs. Gandhi, the All India Congress Seva Dal chief, Mr. B.K. Hariprasad, charged the NDA Government with failure on all fronts. He said the Seva Dal would continue to thwart the evil designs of the communal forces and would be in the forefront of protesting the unity and integrity of the nation.

Those who were present on the occasion included, Mr. N.D. Tiwari, Ms. Mohsina Kidwai, Mr. Ahmed Patel, Mr. Moti Lal Vohra, Mr. Ajit Jogi, Mr. Arjun Singh, Mr. Bhajan Lal, and Mr. Subhash Chopra.

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