Successes of NDA are Tehelka, Coffin-gate: Sonia Thursday, April 15 2004 16:42 Hrs (IST)
Gondia (Maha):
Accusing it of "failure on all fronts" and corruption in high places, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today (Apr 15, 2004) continued her blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) Government at the Centre in her campaign at this small town in Maharashtra.
Rubbishing all claims of success by the BJP in growth and development including "revolutions" in the IT, nuclear and telecom sectors, Gandhi said, "In actuality these so called successes of the Government had degenerated into scams Tehelka, Coffin-gate, UTI and others."
She told the huge turnout waiting since early morning and amidst scorching temperature as high as 44 degrees, "It was Congress that was responsible for the revolutions in the telecom, grain and nuclear sectors."
"Over the past 40 years, Congress has steadfastly striven for progress," she said adding, "It alone had brought in the green revolution, introduced telecom, and achieved milestones in the nuclear fields."
"The credit taken by the BJP for successes in the last five years is incorrect," Gandhi told the gathering.
Expanding on Congress' achievements in the last 40 years, the Congress president credited her party with giving priority to women's participation in power and the development in growth prospects for the poor and backward class.
"The NDA," she said, "has failed to keep up its promises in these sectors."
Sonia further accused the Centre of not fulfilling its promises in its years in power and also of being "disrespecting its own election manifesto" but did not elaborate.