National

`Cong. not responsible for turmoil in J&K'

By Our Correspondent

Jammu, Feb.18. The Congress has said that the February 21 by-election to the Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha constituency will prove to be an acid test for the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, and will show whether he is sincere in holding free and fair State Assembly elections. The seat had become vacant after the death of the sitting MP, Vaid Vaishno Dutt.

The senior Congress leader, Makhan Lal Fotedar, addressing a press conference here along with the former Finance Minister, Manmohan Singh, said Mr. Vajpayee should ensure that the by-election was fair.

Otherwise it would not inspire confidence among the people of the State. He said that the Congress cannot be blamed for the turmoil in the State and that the historic Sheikh-Indira accord would remain the only possible solution to the Kashmir problem.

Asked about the rigging of the 1987 elections he said, `'We are not to be blamed. We had solved the problem during the term of the Rao Government but it is only when others came on the scene that militancy re-erupted in the State.''

Taking on the ruling National Conference (NC) for `mismanagement' of the State's economy, Dr. Manmohan Singh said the fiscal deficit of the Jammu and Kashmir Government recorded a growth of 401 per cent at Rs. 1338 crores between 1996 and 2000 and the interest payments touched Rs. 845 crores.

`'We have to make sure that the State is governed properly so that the seeds of frustration are not sowed in the minds of the people. The Central Government is giving the State huge funds for development, employment generation and rebuilding of the gutted infrastructure,'' he said. The funds released were being misappropriated, he alleged.

Meanwhile the AICC secretary, Satyajit Gaekwad, said that the NC Government owed an explanation to the Sikh community for not releasing the Ansari Commission report which enquired into the anti-Sikh riots of 1989. He said, `'The report is lying in the civil secretariat for the last 12 years. It is a shame that the culprits are free.''

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