PM to address 3 meetings in Maharashtra

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will seek a second term for the Democratic Front when he addresses three public meetings in Maharashtra on Sunday for the October 13 assembly polls.

He will reach Aurangabad in the morning and fly to Dhule town in northern Maharashtra, where he is scheduled to address his first public meeting in the morning, sources in the Congress party said.

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From Dhule, he will proceed to Akola in Vidarbha region to address another public meeting in the afternoon. He will address his last meeting in Nanded district of Marathwada region.

In keeping with norms laid down by the Election Commission, no party leader or functionary will accompany the prime minister during the tour.

Chief Minister Sushilkumar Shinde, state party chief Prabha Rau and senior leaders of the party, however, are expected to be present at some of the public meetings.

Meanwhile in Sangli, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi blamed the previous National Democratic Alliance government for the suffering of the public during the severe drought in the area.

"The previous government at the Centre did not want the Democratic Front government to carry out good work," she said addressing a rally in Sangli in support of Congress-Nationalist Congress Party alliance candidates in its bastion of western Maharashtra.

She expresses satisfaction with the DF government's handling of difficult situations in the state with limited resources.

Criticising the opposition, the Congress chief said, "They are only engaged in insulting and criticising ruling governments and making people fight among themselves. Congress never used the kind of the language being used by the opposition."

The party would pay special attention to dalits and women. "We are seriously planning programmes for development of women as the country cannot progress without their contribution," Gandhi said.