Emissaries were sent by TN, Karnataka has nothing to do with it — Sonia

RAICHUR, OCT 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the Tamil Nadu government's decision to send Tamil nationalists to have tal...

RAICHUR, OCT 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the Tamil Nadu government’s decision to send Tamil nationalists to have talks with outlaw Veerappan had nothing to do with the S.M. Krishna government in Karnataka.

She told mediapersons at the inauguration of the Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)-aided Rajiv Gandhi Memorial super-speciality hospital here today that though emissaries like P. Nedumaran were representing both Tamil Nadu and Karnataka governments, the emissaries were chosen by the Tamil Nadu government and not by Karnataka. She said she was satisfied by the Karnataka government’s performance during its one-year tenure.

On the issue of the Congress washing its hands off former prime minister P.V. Narsimha Rao’s sentence in the JMM MPs bribery case, Sonia said that though the Congress had sympathy and respect for Rao, it was helpless as the issue was a legal one.

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However, she refused to comment whether her party would withdraw support from the Rashtriya Janata Dal government in Bihar as it was facing many legal hurdles and the law and order situation in the state had virtually collapsed.

While addressing a gathering at the Mahatma Gandhi stadium after launching the Rs 72 crore programme Stree Shakti, she came down heavily on the BJP-led Central Government saying that it was not concerned about the problems of the common man and the farmers in the country. Indiscriminate hike in prices of petrol, kerosene and diesel show that the Centre does not care about the people’s interests, she said.

She said it was Rajiv Gandhi’s dream that women in the country should come forward in all sectors and be self sufficient. That was the reason why he gave reservations for women in panchayat elections. The Stree Shakti programme mooted by the Karnataka government was fulfillment of Rajiv’s dream.

She claimed that after the the country gained independence, it was only the Congress governments at the Centre which set up welfare programmes for women, Dalits and Tribals.

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“The political parties have cultivated the habit of promising welfare programmes to the people during election time, to seek votes, and forget them once they win. It is a betrayal of the democratic system,” she opined.

Congress has been worried about the poor and harassed people. But state governments alone cannot hold the responsibilities therefore Central Government should also come forward to assist the state governments, she said, adding that unfortunately the BJP Government at the Centre never bothered about it.

The Congress president also inaugurated another programme “Suraksha Herige” by distributing the health kits to a nurse.

Besides Chief Minister S.M. Krishna, Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and PWD Minister Dharam Singh, Women and Children Welfare Minister Motamma, and Helth Minister Dr Malakreddy were also present at the launch.

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Earlier, Sonia was presented with a silver elephant as memento at a civic reception by Karnataka Development Board chairman N.S. Boseraju.