Sonia vows to rid state of ‘mafia raj’

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the United Progressive Alliance and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have made her proud by giving a large number of welfare schemes to the poor and implementing it effectively.

Congress president Sonia Gandhi has said that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh have made her proud by giving a large number of welfare schemes to the poor and implementing it effectively.

“However, it is unfortunate that crores of rupees provided by the Centre to Uttar Pradesh were used (by the SP) to make its friends and those who call themselves socialists rich,” she said. The UPA chairperson also asked the SP government: “When you call yourselves socialist, does it mean mafia-raj?”

Sonia added, “We have accepted the challenges of the mafia-raj and pledge now that once again the rule of peace and harmony will be restored here and UP will regain its lost esteem.”

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Sonia exhorted the people to vote for the party, adding at the same time that she knew the weaknesses in the Congress. “We don’t wish to grab power at any cost, however the fact remains that the Congress was the party of every Hindustani when Mahatma Gandhi was leading it in 1942 and it still is the party of every Hindustani,” she said.

Attacking the BJP, which is in the eye of a storm over a campaign CD containing inflammatory material about Muslims, she said: “Those others who are coming to you for your vote must be asked to explain what do they think about the minorities? Do they have any concern for them?”

“You have been a victim of fundamentalist politics… Every section of the society should feel empowered.”

The chairperson also thanked the people of the region for extending warm reception to her son and Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi.