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Cong. alleges `step-motherly' treatment

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI AUG. 4. The Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, who is "dissatisfied" with the package announced by the Government for drought relief, will meet the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, along with the Chief Ministers of the six Congress-ruled, drought-hit States on Monday to press for more Central assistance and its even-handed distribution.

The decision was taken by the Congress leadership after a three-hour meeting with the Chief Ministers of Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and Maharashtra at Ms. Gandhi's residence here. Though the Punjab Chief Minister, Amrinder Singh, was not present, the State's demands have also been factored in the memorandum to be submitted to Mr. Vajpayee.

Given the experience of the past two years, when the Congress-ruled States got just a fraction of the Central assistance provided to Andhra Pradesh and Haryana — which are ruled by NDA constituents — the Chief Ministers said at a press conference later that the Centre "should not use human misery to settle political scores," and urged it to give up its "step-motherly" attitude towards the Opposition-ruled States.

With the demand of these seven States amounting to Rs. 12,473 crores, the Congress felt that the two instalments, announced by the Centre would not be enough to tide over the crisis facing the country.

The party also urged the Centre to learn from the past and cited the manner in which the former Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, managed the drought of 1987-88. And, in the opinion of the Karnataka Chief Minister, S. M. Krishna, the Union Ministers ought to tour the affected areas to make a "realistic and pragmatic assessment'' instead of leaving the task to bureaucrats. The Congress, according to Ambika Soni, political secretary to the party president, has decided to constitute a roving team of experts — some of whom were part of Rajiv Gandhi's group — to help the States manage the "serious situation.''

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