Srinagar conclave (June 1, 2003)

M A I N   N E W S Sonia hints at poll alliance Says open to coalition govt at Centre, states S. P. Sharma Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 31 Ms Sonia Gandhi, Congress president, today did not rule out the possibility of the Congress having poll alliance with the Samajwadi Party (SP) of Mr Mulayam Singh and the Rashtriya Lok Dal (RLD) of Mr Ajit Singh. She said that the party had open mind on formation of coalition governments at the Centre and the states. Ms Gandhi, who was talking to mediapersons here on conclusion of the two-day conclave of the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states, with a smile said that the Congress, Mr Mulayam Singh and Mr Ajit Singh could join hands. She said that situation in Uttar Pradesh was very fluid and after withdrawing support to the Mayawati government, Mr Ajit Singh had met the Governor to demand her dismissal. UPPCC president, Nawal Kishore Sharma, was maintaining contact with the SP and RLD leaders. She said that at the national-level we are certainly open to working with the secular parties to defeat the communal elements. Ms Gandhi said that the Congress had not adopted soft line towards "Hindutva" but was determined to foil attempts of the Vishwa Hindu states and the areas where we have to work more have been identified. She was hopeful that the problems of electricity in Madhya Pradesh, which the BJP was trying to make an election issue, would be solved to a large extent soon as she had asked the Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states of Chhattisgarh, Uttaranchal and Himachal, to come to its rescue. She refused to comment on groupism in the Congress in view of the recent outbursts of a CWC leader, Mr Arjun Singh. Ms Gandhi said that the foreign policy of the country was a sensitive area, but the BJP-led NDA government was going from one extreme to another on issues of national importance. There was utter confusion and contradiction in the stand of the government on the sensitive issue of ties with Pakistan. However, we have never criticised the manner in which the government was fighting terrorism. They should remain cautious and learn a lesson from mistakes. She accused the NDA government of having failed on all fronts. LoC as International Border: Replying to questions pertaining to the recent reports of proposal to convert the Line of Control between India and Pakistan as an international border, Ms Gandhi said there was no ready-made solution for Kashmir and the government had to come out with a plan followed by consultation with other parties. She said that the Congress had no objection to the release of innocent people languishing in the jails without trial. She said that "I" don't say that mistakes were not committed by the Congress when it was in power in J&K, but the real problem started in 1990 when the party was not in power in the state. The Congress was in favour of talks with all sections for a solution to the Kashmir problem. Ms Gandhi said that she had asked the Chief Ministers of the Congress ruled states to provide reservation for the students of J&K in professional colleges in their states and also prepare a package for promoting tourism in Kashmir. The Chief Minister of Punjab, Mr Amarinder Singh, has offered a package for promoting tourism here. Ms Gandhi was flanked by Mr Jaipal Reddy and Mrs Ambika Soni at the Press conference. Among others who were present, were Chief Ministers, Mr Sushil Kumar Shinde, Mrs Sheila Dikshit, Mr Virbhadra Singh, Mr Digvijay Singh, Mr N.D. Tiwari, Mr Ajit Jogi, Mr S.M. Krishna, Mr Ashok Gehlot and Mr A.K. Antony, Mr Ghulam Nabi Azad, PCC president, Mr K. Natwar Singh, Dr Manmohan Singh, Mr Buta Singh, Mr R.K. Dhawan and Mr Pranab Mukherjee, were among others present. Self-Introspection: Earlier, in her concluding remarks at the meeting of Chief Ministers, Ms Gandhi called for another exercise of self-introspection and brainstorming on fundamental political, economic and social issues. This is essential even as we prepare to fight the electoral battles ahead. She said that we would be following up with "you" on all important points that have been made in the meeting. She emphasised the need to enforce the law of the land without fear or favour to deal with all those who disturb social peace and harmony. She said that we must not waver in our determination to deal with religious fundamentalists of all kinds. At the same time there was urgent need to amend the existing laws like the Indian Penal Code and enforce some of these like the Representation of People Act effectively to deal with growing communalism of all varieties. Coming down heavily on communalism, Ms Gandhi said that while political will was essential, I would also urge all of you to take strictest action against those in the administration who were unable to control communal tensions and their fall-outs. There should also be prompt and uniform compensation to all victims of communal violence. She stressed the need to set standards for transparency, accountability, probity and efficiency by giving a clear direction to the administration. Discretion and patronage must be minimised.

Cong stand on 'trishul diksha' softens Tribune News Service and UNI Srinagar, May 31 The Congress today softened stand on the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's 'trishul diksha' programme, saying there was no need to "overreact" on the issue as long as set procedures were followed by the organisation and its affiliates. "What was done in Rajasthan was certainly appreciated. But there is also a sense that we should not overreact on the issue," senior Congress leader Salman Khursheed told reporters on the sides of the Congress Chief Ministers' conclave here. He said the issue of clampdown on the Sangh Parivar outfits was discussed in details at the meeting. VHP International General Secretary Praveen Togadia was arrested in Ajmer for distributing tridents (trishuls) in Rajasthan. The state government had banned its distribution. The Congress party expressed "strong positive feeling" about its coalition with the People's Democratic Party (PDP) and others in Jammu and Kashmir, at the two-day conclave of the Chief Ministers which concluded here today. Giving details of the two-day meeting of 15 Chief Ministers of the Congress-ruled states and the 24 CWC members, senior party leader, Salman Khursheed said here that the case of Jammu and Kashmir was also taken at the meeting. Mr Salman Khursheed coming out of the meeting hall this afternoon said that Deputy Chief Minister, Mangat Ram Sharma, had given a detailed backgrounder of the happenings and situation prevalent in the state and also the performance of the coalition government in the state over the past seven months. CONG'S POLL STRATEGY Counter anti-incumbency, fundamentalism Tribune News Service Srinagar, May 31 The Chief Ministers of the four Congress-ruled states going to Assembly polls shortly have been directed by the party president, Ms Sonia Gandhi, to counter the anti-incumbency syndrome and deal with religious fundamentalists with determination. This was deliberated at the meeting on drawing up the broad outline of the election strategy of the Congress which was presided by Ms Gandhi last mid-night. The Chief Ministers of these states and the members of the strategy committee and general secretaries in charge of the four states were present at the meeting. The Congress high command is taking these Assembly elections seriously because it feels that it will be easy to throw out of power the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre in case the party retained power in these four states and also succeeded in capturing the fifth state. Ms Gandhi is understood to have made it clear that the Chief Ministers of these states and party leadership would have free hand to take a decision on taking support of any other party or entering into a pre-poll alliance. It is learnt that the contentious issue of reservation on an economic basis was deliberated threadbare in view of the BJP trying to steal the show by having recommended reservation to counter the initiative taken on the issue by Rajasthan Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot. The Congress had earlier been saying that the agenda of the meeting of Chief Ministers here would be confined to the national issues and development in the Congress ruled states, but the party could not resist discussing the election strategy for the five states when all Chief Ministers and senior members of the CWC were present. The elections are coming in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Delhi and Mizoram. The other Chief Ministers were asked to follow in the footsteps of Mr Ashok Gehlot, Chief Minister of Rajasthan, in tackling the challenge of the VHP which was trying to polarise political situation in the state. Mr Digvijay Singh, Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh, was reportedly confident that the power shortage in the state, made an issue by the opposition would be solved soon and he would be in a position to take on the BJP and other parties. He is also learnt to have claimed that his government did not face any threat from the BSP as most of the constituencies dominated by the BSP supporters have gone to Chhattisgarh. Mr Ajit Jogi, Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, is learnt to have apprised Ms Gandhi and other members of the steps taken to counter the communal campaign in the state and said that it was no more an issue there. It was reportedly decided to maintain the pressure on the opposition parties in Delhi where a lot of development has taken place under the Congress government of Mrs Sheila Dikshit. Sources said that it was decided o take some steps to benefit the farmers and the poor sections before the elections. Ms Gandhi stressed on the launching of an employment guarantee scheme and make sure that the public distribution system provided adequate security to the poor. The leaders who participated in the meeting were reportedly of the view that the Centre was deliberately not coming out with an open heart to provide help to the Rajasthan government to meet the drought-like situation and was also shirking from providing additional power supply to Madhya Pradesh which was suffering because of erratic power supply.