A day after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, AICC chairperson Sonia Gandhi appealed the voters in Assam on Sunday to vote cautiously as they have to decide on the future of the country.
“You have to decide on the future of our country. Each of your vote will decide as to what type of leadership will run the country,” Gandhi said while addressing a public rally at Assam’s lakhimpur district on Sunday. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during a public rally at Khumtai on Saturday had appealed the voters in Assam to make a comparison between the performances of Congress and non-Congress Governments before casting their votes in the lok Sabha polls due next month.
The AICC chairperson arrived in lakhimpur on Sunday to campaign for Congress MP and Union Minister of State for Tribal Affairs Ranee Narah. “Two forces, who believe in opposite ideologies, are facing each other in India at present. While on one hand you have the Congress party that has struggled for betterment of all sections of the society, whose leaders have shed their bloods for maintaining the age old brotherhood in the society and sacrificed to fight against terrorism, on the other hand there is a party that believes in hatred and use social inequality for their political benefit,” she said without taking the name of BJP.
“These leaders were not anywhere to be seen when the Congress leaders from the North-East had been struggling along with other national leaders of the party in the pre-Independence period. Even after Independence these forces have wasted their time in criticising the Congress’ nation building process,” Gandhi said. “Congress had always been working for betterment of each sections of the society. We do not believe in false promises. Whatever we had promised in our manifesto during the last elections had been fulfilled,” she said while highlighting the flagship achievements of the Government like the MGNREGA, Right to education, Right to food, RTI etc.
The AICC chairperson mentioned about the flood and erosion problems faced by Assam and said that several steps had been taken for better flood management in places like Dhemaji, lakhimpur and Majuli. “In our manifesto this time, we have promised right to health which will ensure free medicines. Homeless and landless will be given shelter and all these promises will be fulfilled. There is a difference between talking and doing. The Opposition believes in only talking,” she said while appealing the people to vote for Congress candidates during the lok Sabha polls in Assam.
“I am confident that the people of North-East know real nationalism. I hope you will not be misled by those who are simply beating the drums of nationalism,” said Gandhi.
