Left has to answer for neglecting poor: Sonia

Invokes Ghani Khan Memory, Says Left Did Politics For Own Gains
TIMES NEWS NETWORK
Malda/Islampur/Behrampore: Sonia Gandhi slammed the CPM-led government on Monday for trying to “hijack” development programmes run by Pradesh Congress president Pranab Mukherjee. “He has played an important role in all these projects. Nobody else can take credit for these,” she said both at Samsi and Islampur in North Dinajpur, referring to how CPM has been claiming that its MPs “forced” the UPA government to announce welfare schemes. “We have increased the procurement price of paddy by Rs 300 per quintal but farmers here are not getting the advantage. They have also failed to implement the Rajiv Gandhi Rural Electrification scheme in villages. The Bengal government will have to answer why they have not done anything for the poor in so many years,” Sonia said. Mamata Banerjee, too, threw a Left hook. “The CPM government has done nothing for the state except giving out more liquor licences,” she said. In Samsi — where Rahul Gandhi has shared the dais with Ghani Khan Choudhury’s niece Mausam Noor and brother Abu Hasem Khan two days ago — Sonia spoke of the Gandhi family’s relations with the Ghani Khan clan. “Here, Mausam Noor and Abu Hasem Khan Choudhury are contesting the elections to fulfil Ghani Khan’s dream,” she said. If it was Ghani Khan in Malda, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi came up in Islampur where his wife Deepa Das Munshi is the candidate. “From train services to Raigunj to a proposed institution on the lines of AIIMS, Priya Ranjan Das Munshi has done a lot for this area. Deepa is the candidate as he is ill,” Sonia reminded the voters who had elected Priya to Lok Sabha in 2004. “CPM is scared of the Congress-Trinamool alliance,” she said. “Congress has led the country in the right direction while the Left parties have done politics for their own gains. In spite of reservations from some of partners in the UPA, the Congress pressed forward with the Rs 63,000 crore loan waiver for farmers. We could have done more had there not been opposition from our erstwhile partners.” Sonia dismissed the proposed Third Front as a “power-hungry, opportunist combine”. “The Third Front is devoid of any vision and is only trying to grab power. There are many aspirants for the prime minister’s post but it is only Congress that can provide a stable and strong government at the Centre. We are here to serve people and not because of the power that comes with the post,” Sonia said. She did not elaborate much on Nandigram or Singur. “Whatever the Left may say, you know what their real stance is,” she said. Like her son, Sonia also climbed over barricades to reach out to people. Several barricades collapsed when the crowd surged to meet her. Her bodyguards, who had their hearts in their mouths all this while, finally would have no more of it and whisked her away towards the waiting chopper. Sonia had to wait nearly an hour at the VIP lounge of Bagdogra airport after an IAF Mig-21’s undercarriage malfunctioned on landing, leaving the runway blocked.