By IANS,
Shimla : The people of the country will vote for the Congress for ensuring stability and sustainable economic growth of the country, Congress leader Anand Sharma said Saturday.
“The people in the country would vote for the Congress for ensuring stability and sustainable economic growth by the Manmohan Singh-led United Progressive Alliance government,” he told reporters here.
“No secular government (at the centre) would be formed without the aid of the Congress,” he added.
Taking a dig at the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani’s claims that a huge amount of Indian money is stashed in foreign banks, Sharma asked Advani to share with the people which bank and government had given him this information.
“Mr Advani should share with the people which bank and government has given him the figure (Rs.125,000 crore),” he said, adding such a huge amount was not transferred instantly and the BJP leader should say he had kept quiet earlier.
“Suddenly the prime minister-in-waiting has gained some knowledge (about the black money)… very sad to see such a political leader indulging in gimmicks,” he said.
Sharma said people also wanted to know where Rs.2.5 crore (Rs.25 million), which was recently stolen from the BJP headquarters, came from.
“We do hope that better sense will prevail over our opponents, particularly the BJP and the RSS, over making undignified comments against the prime minister,” he said, alleging the BJP was raking up baseless issues since it lacked a national agenda and ideology.
Regarding post-poll alliances, Sharma said: “Politics is full of possibilities. We do not look at other parties as adversaries… government formation is a game of numbers, it will be decided on May 16 (the day of counting of votes).”
On the party’s prospects in Himachal Pradesh, he said Congress would retain all the three seats (Shimla, Mandi and Kangra) it had won in 2004 and would try to get the fourth seat (Hamirpur) too.