Sunday, Apr 28, 2002
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By T. Lakshmipathi
The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, listening to grievances of the family members of farmers who committed suicide in Anantapur in Andhra Pradesh, on Saturday. — AP
"Ever since the BJP has taken over the reins at the Centre, the sufferings of farmers have aggravated. As for the TDP, it is more concerned about power politics than the distress of farmers,'' Ms Gandhi said, at a public meeting at the Arts College Grounds here. In her 20-minute speech, Ms. Gandhi had a dig at the TDP for converting the Janmabhoomi into a party programme, thereby eroding the authority of elected panchayat raj functionaries. But she refrained from referring to the other controversial issue — free power to farmers. Ms. Gandhi arrived here from Bangalore by a helicopter to meet the families of the farmers who committed suicide due to acute drought and mounting debt burden. She consoled them and promised her party's support. The Congress has collected Rs. 25 lakhs to provide relief to these families at the rate of Rs.22, 222 each. She presented cheques to nine women at the public meeting and the rest was distributed by other leaders. Interestingly, an all-party delegation minus the Congress led by the TDP met Ms. Gandhi and submitted a memorandum requesting her to use her good offices with the Karnataka Government in the construction of the Tungabhadra parallel canal intended to benefit the drought-prone areas in Anantapur and Kurnool districts. Congress leaders, including the CLP leader, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, dubbed it a "political gimmick" and blamed the TDP Government for "failure" to take up the long-pending high-level canal. Ms. Gandhi said that suicides of farmers were reported in other States too but Andhra Pradesh had the dubious distinction of a record number of such deaths. "There is nothing wrong in the soil and farmers continue to toil. The blame squarely lay with the State Government,'' she said. It was unfortunate that handloom weavers, too, became part of the tragic phenomenon. No farmer would want to end his life unless under extreme distress conditions as he had strong attachment with the family. Input costs had gone up steeply and the power tariff was beyond their reach. The Government could not provide the minimum support price for the produce. Ms. Gandhi said the policies of the Central and State Governments had brought misery to the people. While Rajiv Gandhi was instrumental in strengthening the local bodies, the TDP Government created "hurdles" for the local-self governments through its Janmabhoomi programme which helped only its "party ranks". The voice of elected representatives was "being suppressed". Ms. Gandhi said she was pained to know about the "spurt" in attacks on Dalits and other weaker sections under the TDP dispensation. She appealed to people to elect the Congress in the State "so that your needs are attended to and sufferings mitigated.'' She said Gujarat was "burning" but the Government at the Centre, egged on by some friends, continued to protect the Modi Government in that State.
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