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Sonia promises development for western Orissa

Congress president Sonia Gandhi today kicked off her party's election campaign in this industrial town of Jharsogura in western Orissa with a call to vote in a stable and efficient Congress government at the Centre.

Addressing an election rally, Gandhi came down heavily on the BJP-led government at the Centre, stating that those who could not protect the border had no right to continue in power for a single day.

She said hundreds of jawans lost their lives in the Kargil war because of the inept handling of the situation by the BJP government. The enemies, she said, had entered Indian territory while the government was sitting unconcerned.

Gandhi said the unstable governments during the last three years had caused much harm to the nation. "We had a bitter experience of three unstable governments in the last three years."

The Congress president said whenever her party had come to power it had completed full terms because it has the experience and the ability to run a government. On the other hand, the other political parties have united with the objective or capturing power and then indulged in bickering and conflicts and finally disintegrated, imposing a burden of expensive elections in the country. This was the third elections the country was facing during the last three years and one could imagine how much money and time had been wasted on account of it.

She lashed out at the BJP government for showing little interest for the development of backward regions of Karaput, Bolangir and Kalahandi areas of the state. The Centre, she said, continued to neglect and did not pay any heed to the repeated pleas of the state government to develop western Orissa. This reflected the attitude of the central government towards the poor people of the state.

Gandhi promised that if voted to power, her party would pay special attention for the development of the state.

Despite inclement weather and heavy rains thousands of people including women turned up at the meeting. Orissa Pradesh Congress president Hemananda Biswal, Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang and former chief minister J B Patnaik also delivered brief speeches.

UNI

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