Govt. lurching from one scandal to another: Sonia

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 20. The Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi, for the second time today in two days, launched a blistering attack on the Central Government.

``This Government has nothing to offer the country except for lurching from one scandal to another and one crisis to another,'' she said while inaugurating the national convention of the Seva Dal on the 57th birth anniversary of the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi.

The country was not safe in the hands of a Government that was being run on the ``dictates of the RSS and under pressure from its allies''. The most glaring example of its ineptitude, said the Congress president, was the failure of the Agra summit. ``The common man is extremely insecure and the developments in Jammu and Kashmir and the deteriorating law and order situation is a cause for great concern for the people.''

Ms. Gandhi said that instead of admitting its mistakes, the Government was blaming the previous governments. ``This Government is tall on promises and poor on solving the problems faced by the people. From Parliament to the Red Fort, all we get are promises.''

Calling on the Seva Dal workers to fan out to the villages to expose the corrupt deeds of the Government, Ms. Gandhi said no political party could function effectively without a disciplined army of workers. The Congress was fortunate that it had at its disposal the most disciplined workers that any party could hope for.

Paying tributes to Rajiv Gandhi, she said he had a special place in his heart for the Seva Dal and was constantly working on ideas to improve the lot of the people and utilise the Seva Dal to bolster the party organisation. ``He joined politics to help out Indiraji, but realised that the party needed to be strengthened at all levels. He, therefore, paid special attention to the Seva Dal and became its member in-charge.''

She was happy that the Seva Dal was observing the next one year as ``organisation'' year, Ms. Gandhi said, and gave a nine-point action programme for the organisation to strengthen the party at all levels.

(Caption: The Congress president, Ms. Sonia Gandhi with her daughter, Ms. Priyanka Wadhra, and son-in-law, Mr. Robert Wadhra, at the Veer Bhumi in New Delhi on Monday. - Photo: Rajeev Bhatt)

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