Search the Internet          Tips

Sonia slams Naidu over farmers' plight

Congress president Sonia Gandhi launched a blistering attack on Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Saturday for ignoring the plight of farmers and muzzling the people at the grassroots level in the state.

Taking the battle to Naidu's turf, Gandhi accused him of playing "power politics" and doing nothing to prevent atrocities against dalits, girijans, women and other weaker sections. She also accused him of scuttling the functioning of local bodies.

Addressing a huge public meeting in the backward Anantapur town in the drought-affected Rayalaseema region, Gandhi lambasted the 'indifferent' Telugu Desam Party government for inflicting miseries on farmers. "For long," she said, "the farmers of Andhra Pradesh enjoyed pride of place in the country. Now they are being forced to commit suicide because of adverse conditions. The hike in power tariff and other input costs has further compounded their problems."

Though suicides are taking place in other parts of the country as well, the number is alarming in Andhra Pradesh, she said, where scores of farmers and dozens of handloom weavers had ended their lives, unable to bear the hardships.

Gandhi met the families of 90 farmers who had committed suicide following crop failure and handed over relief in the form of cheques to their widows. The state unit of the Congress had collected more than Rs 20 lakh [about $40,820] through public donations for this purpose.

The 100,000-strong crowd, braving the scorching summer heat, lustily cheered Gandhi when she took pot shots at Naidu. They even broke the barricades to have a glimpse of the leader who made a fiery speech in Hindi for 15 minutes.

Gandhi came down heavily on the Janmabhoomi programme, which, she claimed, was undermining the spirit of the constitutional amendments on panchayat raj and nagarpalikas introduced by the late Rajiv Gandhi to empower local bodies and usher in decentralisation. "What is happening here is oppression of the people's voice as Janmabhoomi is creating hurdles in the development process and benefitting only the ruling party leaders," she said.

She expressed shock at the growing atrocities on dalits and women in the state and promised: "If we are voted to power, we will take all possible steps to protect the weaker sections and restore their dignity."

Gandhi arrived in the town by helicopter from Bangalore. Immediately on landing at a makeshift helipad at the venue of the public meeting, she met the families of the farmers and consoled them. Touching scenes were witnessed during her interaction with the affected families as women and children broke down while narrating their plight.

Gandhi was accompanied by Vayalar Ravi, Congress general secretary in charge of Andhra Pradesh. Andhra Pradesh Congress Committee president M Satyanarayana Rao, the party's leader in the state assembly, Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, and Congress legislators from the district were present on the occasion.

Back to top

Tell us what you think of this report