Jhunjhunu (Rajasthan): Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October 12 accused the Vajpayee government at the Centre of discriminating against party-ruled states in providing assistance to fight drought.

"The Centre is not extending any help to the governments of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chattisgarh reeling under severe drought conditions," she said winding up her two-day whirlwind tour of drought-hit areas of Rajasthan.

When she met Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee about a month back seeking his intervention in providing timely help to the states facing drought and famine, "he had promised us that he would do something but nothing has been done so far", Gandhi told reporters in a brief chat before returning to Delhi at the air strip here.

She said that the situation in Rajasthan was "very bad and the people are suffering great hardship due to the failure of monsoon".

However, the state government was doing a good job in providing relief to the suffering masses, Gandhi said.

She refused to answer questions about political situation in Jammu and Kashmir after the elections and other subjects saying that she would talk only about drought in Rajasthan.

PTI