The Hindu : National : BJP flays Sonia for Tonk visit

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Jun 26, 2005

National

National

BJP flays Sonia for Tonk visit

Special Correspondent

Congress indulged in politics over dead bodies: Dave

JAIPUR: The Bharatiya Janata Party-led Government in Rajasthan on Saturday denounced the recent visit of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to Tonk - where five persons were killed in police firing - as an act of "political one-upmanship" and held the local Congress leaders responsible for "provoking" the farmers that created a situation leading to firing on a crowd demanding water for irrigation.

The Forest and Environment Minister and spokesperson of the State Government, Laxminarain Dave, said in a statement that the Opposition Congress, by bringing Ms. Gandhi to Tonk, had not only indulged in the "politics over dead bodies" but also removed the mask from its real face. "Congress had nothing to say on why it did not take any action on the demand for irrigation waters in the region during its five-year rule," he said.

Ms. Gandhi, during her visit to the villages in Tonk district on June 23, had described the police action on farmers the previous week as a shocking and barbarous act and stated that it deserved condemnation. She gave Rs. 2 lakhs each to the next of kin of the deceased and Rs. 10,000 each to those admitted to the district hospital with serious injuries.

Demand for water

Mr. Dave said that if Ms. Gandhi had really felt the pain of farmers in Rajasthan, she would have exerted pressure on the Congress-led Government in Punjab to release the outstanding quantity of 0.60 MAF water to the State under the Ravi-Beas river water agreement. "Her silence in the matter proves that she wants to do politics over water," he charged. Even as Ms. Gandhi had assured that the Centre would support a project on water formulated by the State Government or local authorities in view of "enormous need of water" in the area, Mr. Dave said the previous Congress regime had paid no attention to the problem and the party was now provoking the farmers to indulge in violence.

The Ashok Gehlot Government, said the BJP leader, made a record of as many as 39 firing incidents during its rule, besides failing to control communal violence in several parts of the State. Mr. Dave affirmed that Ms. Gandhi's Tonk visit was nothing more than an attempt to cover the "disgrace and lack of popularity" of her party among the people. He said she should recognise the "incompetence" of the State party leaders and realise the futility of such visits.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

National