The Hindu : Sonia vows to work for early change in Delhi

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Tuesday, Aug 27, 2002

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National

Sonia vows to work for early change in Delhi

By Our Staff Correspondent

GHATAPRABHA (Belgaum Dist.) AUG. 26. The Congress president and Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Sonia Gandhi, vowed to work for "early change" and trained her guns at the BJP while delivering the valedictory address of the 10-day national training camp of the Congress Seva Dal here.

Ms. Gandhi lashed out at "irresponsible governments" at the Centre.

She said an era of instability and falling standards had begun with the weakening of the Congress in a few States. The "irresponsible governments" had put the socio-cultural ethos of the country at stake and tore values to shreds.

They had set big examples of "corruption" and "misrule".

Yet, there was "absence" of anger and concern against such governance.

This could be the result of the BJP, its allies, and other parties entrapping society with politics of religion and caste.

Ms. Gandhi claimed that the Congress, which was ruling 14 States, was doing better than others, even though it was not in power at the Centre. If the Congress governments and organisations worked together for the good of the people, then the latter would repose faith in the party.

She promised the Seva Dal workers to bring in "changes" in the party after which the service and contribution of workers would be recognised.

There was no need for the workers to be disgusted for being neglected.

The Congress was a party with mass base and essentially a movement.

Yet, no political party could be strong without a strong cadre. She urged the Seva Dal workers to improve their knowledge of socio-political and cultural issues and take interest in understanding history, science, and literature. The Congress chief, who paid tributes to Narayan Subbarao Hardikar, founder of Seva Dal, and visited the Karnataka Health Institute established by Kokatnur in realisation of Dr. Hardikar's dream for a rural hospital, described him as a symbol of sacrifice and dedication.

S.M. Krishna, Chief Minister, V.S. Koujalgi, Agriculture and district in-charge Minister, Amarsinh Patil, MP, and Ramesh Jarkiholi, MLA, were present.

An emotional Karnataka PCC president, Allum Veerabhadrappa, caused embarrassment to Ms. Gandhi when he described her as "Rani Chennamma of modern India" who was fighting "anti-communalism, anti-secularism, and anti-socialism."

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