Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi,
while addressing a well attended Congress rally on Tuesday at Kangra in poll
bound Himachal Pradesh slammed the ruling BJP government in the state for lack
of development in the state.
Attacking the BJP government for not implementing the
central schemes effectively, Sonia Gandhi said, “The UPA Government at the
centre released huge financial assistance for education, health, employment
generation and welfare of the women. But it is very sad that the state
government did not use these funds properly and as a result the benefits of the
central schemes did not reach the poor. There is no improvement in the lives of
the poor. The people face a lot of difficulties because of the lack of
facilities in education and health. You
should keep all these facts in mind before casting your votes and I appeal to
all of you to ensure the defeat of the anti-poor BJP government here”.
Touching upon the crucial issue of price rise Sonia Gandhi
said “We are facing challenging situations right now. You must be aware that few years back the
world witnessed serious economic crisis. The situation is worse in some parts
of the world even today. We also had to
face a lot of trouble. We have to buy most of the oil from outside and the
prices of the same has increased manifold. The increase in the prices puts pressure
on us also. The UPA government still is
making an effort to support people; why can't state governments do the same for
people?” and asked “Is it not the responsibility of the state governments also
to take all possible measures to help the poor in their states? In Congress- ruled states, economically
weaker sections get three extra LPG cylinders and they also reduced the VAT on
fuel”.
Sonia Gandhi also
explained about the benefits of Foreign Direct Investment in retail. “The UPA
Government is committed to protect the interests of the farmers. That is why we
helped them by waiving off their loans. The farmers in villages are forced to
sell their products for cheaper prices and those were later sold in cities for
big prices. We want the farmers get proper and adequate prices for their
produce. This will be possible only if the farmers are able to sell their goods
directly at the cities. I want to ask, should farmers not get the money for
their hard work? People should get their security needs at a fair and
affordable price. And this is the concept behind allowing FDI in retail. The
important thing is that every state has the liberty not to implement FDI in
their state” she said.
While concluding her
address the Congress leader requested the voters to ensure every single vote
for the Congress and urged them to become a part in the process of development
and welfare of Himachal Pradesh.
This article
is posted by pressbrief.in
