Sonia slams Left govt over Nandigram

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LOCALCORRESPONDENT

28 April, 2008 08:44:00

Criticising the Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee led-government of West Bengal for its handling of the Nandigram situation, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday said that she was with the people of the area in their sorrow.

''I am with the people of Nandigram who faced sorrow and hardship, especially with the women, children and farmers,'' Gandhi said amidst a thunderous applause from the crowd at the YMA ground in Baharampur.

Slamming the CPM-led Left Front government in the state over the law and order situation, she said that the people were concerned with it. This should not happen and there should not be any discrimination in maintaining law and order.

She said that the Congress officer-bearers here complained of repeated torture and atrocities against the people, but in a democracy there is no place for political violence.

''If law and order machinery did not work properly, the whole system gets affected. This is wrong and this should not happen.''

Referring to the Left's support to the UPA government at the Centre, Gandhi said that to keep communal forces out of power, they had taken the support of the secular parties, but asserted the Congress would not ''sacrifice its ideologies and policies at any cost''.

The Congress has every right to fight against injustice wherever it is done, she said.

Refuting the Left's repeated charges that the agenda of the common minimum programmes was being violated by the UPA government, Gandhi said that every step was being taken for the benefit of masses in accordance with the CMP.

Turning to the Left's demand for special measures for West Bengal and Kerala to mitigate hardship of the people in view of skyrocketing prices, Gandhi said one should realise that there cannot be one policy for Bengal and another for other states.

Gandhi also questioned the track record of the LF government for the upliftment of the minority population in the state.

''The people belonging to the minority community are facing hardship and the state government should not only ponder over the recommendations in the Sachar committee report, but implement them,'' she said.

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