By IANS
New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday asked the government to take “serious note” of the “dangerous trends” and “communal designs” of the Bharatiya Janata Party ((BJP) in states ruled by it even as she took strong exceptions to engineering killings and atrocities on minorities.
In her first comments after the Uttar Pradesh elections, where her party did quite badly, Gandhi blamed the Congress’ organizational failure for the “disappointing” performance and the failure to transform the “spirited party campaigns” into votes.
Urging her party members to focus on Gujarat and Goa, where the party is going to be in a direct fight against the main opposition BJP, Gandhi, while addressing the Congress Parliamentary Party members, said: “The nation is witnessing shocking revelations on the manner in which sections of the Gujarat police have been allowed to kill innocent people in the garb of fighting terrorism. It is apparent that these sections enjoy high-level patronage.”
Referring to the controversial killing of Muslims in staged encounters in Narendra Modi-ruled Gujarat, she went on: “This reflect utter and deliberate contempt for the rule of law to promote ideological prejudices. This also reflects the blatantly partisan attitude of the state government where an issue of human rights has been given a communal colour.”
Warning the Congress in Gujarat that the BJP would “undoubtedly” raise communal tensions and passions, Gandhi hoped that the party’s victory in the 2004 Lok Sabha elections would be repeated.
“We are confronting the BJP whose single-point programme is communal polarization,” she said in the meeting which was attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and senior cabinet ministers.
Pointing out that the atrocities on religious minorities in BJP-ruled states have continued and unabated, Gandhi said; ” Our party organization in these states has exposed the communal designs of the BJP but I do feel that central government should take serious note of these dangerous trends.”
In an apparent reference to the Hindu organisations’ attack over the artists in Vadodara, the Congress president also expressed concern over the “continuing attack on the freedom of expression that we have seen of later in some parts of the country.” “This kind of extreme intolerance goes against the very spirit of our democracy.”
Expressing happiness over the failures of “communal forces” and the “party under whose leadership governance had completely collapsed” in Uttar Pradesh Gandhi said the Congress performance was “very disappointing.”
Giving credit to her MP son Rahul Gandhi, who led the party campaign in the state, Gandhi said: “We mounted a spirited campaign throughout which we witnessed a great deal of goodwill and support towards our party.
“But organizationally we were not able to transform that goodwill into votes. We now face a stupendous challenge, a challenge that we accept and that we will meet with hard work and determination, she said.
After the meet, MP Rahul Gandhi, the star campaigner for the Congress in Uttar Pradesh, told reporters that the party’s organisational failure had prevented it from transforming the support he had earned through campaigns into votes.
Congratulating Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati, he said he would go back to the state to do more party work.