Camp: Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

Date: 8th May, 2014

Time: 5 pm

Sonia Gandhi: Modi insulted martyrdom of Rajiv Gandhi

“Mr. Narendra Modi, just to fulfil his political aspirations, even insulted martyrdom of our former Prime Minister Sh. Rajiv

Gandhi” said Sonia Gandhi, the Congress President and UPA Chairperson while speaking at an elect ion meeting at Kushinagar in

Uttar Pradesh on Thursday.

“There have been several prime ministers in India including BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He, however, always respected the

dignity of his chair. But now, Mr. Narendra Modi, just to fulfil his political aspirations, even insulted martyrdom of our former

Prime Minister Sh. Rajiv Gandhi. The way, 23 years after Rajiv Gandhi's martyrdom, Narendra Modi has insulted him, if we don't

call it petty, then what else should we call it? I just want to assert one fact; any person who dreams to become the Prime

Minister of our country must know and understand its rich culture, ethos and kindness. Such low-level politics and thinking suit

neither the BJP/ Modi nor the country,” said the Congress leader.

“Indian society is pluralistic and leading this country is not a simple task. Good governance is based on ethics, devotion and

commitment. It is based on brotherhood and kindness. How can those who disregard our rich Ganga-Yamuna culture, run our

country” asked Sonia Gandhi and added “In a democracy, politics is to serve the people and not just to grab power. There is no

justification for spreading fake development claims”.

The Congress President then took on the Modi model and said, “The reality of the much hyped Gujarat model which Sh. Modi is

boasting about is something else. Good number of women and kids are malnourished there. 40 per cent of rural people do not

get water for drinking and irrigation. The farmers are suffering. The most astonishing fact is that anyone who earns more than

Rs. 11 a day will not be considered a poor in Gujarat. You can well imagine what one gets at Rs. 11. Even after fixing new BPL line

at Rs. 11, there are 40 lakh families are under the BPL line in Gujarat. Please think what if this model is replicated across the

country!”

“This election is a battle of two ideologies. On one side you have forces like BJP that make people fight and do not believe in

unity and brotherhood. They spread anger and hatred among the people. They want entire wealth of our country reaches in the

hands of a selected group. They ignore the plights of the poor” she asserted and continued, “On the other side, you have the

Congress party, which always fought, even sacrificed lives, to protect the integrity and harmony of the country. We visualize a

open society where every person has equal opportunity to grow. We want each citizen has equal rights and all individuals are

treated without any discrimination”.

“So, it is the people who must decide which ideology is useful for us, in which direction India should move and which political

party must govern our country. I am very confident that the people will take a correct decision and will support an ideology –

that of the Congress party - that takes everyone along respects every citizen” Sonia Gandhi expressed confidence and urged the

people to vote her party in the ongoing Lok Sabha polls.

Text of the speech by Congress President Sonia Gandhi at Kushinagar, Uttar Pradesh

I salute this historic land of freedom fighters, great national leaders and martyrs.

We are facing an election which will decide the future of our country for the next five years. A government will be formed with

your valued votes and that will work according to its ideology and thoughts. A country moves forward only if the vision and idea

of its government are progressive. If its policies are regressive and intention is not pure, then nation will start going backward.

Today entire world respects India and praises our growth. Many countries express their desire to know about land mark policies

like MNREGA, Mid-day meal scheme and Food Security Act and several other nations intend to implement the same in their

countries. We must understand that despite global recession, we could maintain our sustained economic growth. We could

chive this with the support of the people; we could accomplish this because you gave us chance to serve you for a long term.

We could achieve appreciable development over the past ten years due to the progressive policies of the Congress led UPA

Government at the Centre under the leadership of Dr. Manmohan Singh supplemented by the sincere efforts and solid support

of the citizens of our country. On the other side BJP leaders roam around by saying that they will shut down all the pro-poor

policies launched by us. This explains well about its vision about the welfare of the poor.

They are frustrated about the progressive policies and close their eyes towards the truth. They want to mislead and misguide the

people. They indulge in a politics based on caste and religion. Any such move like imposing a particular ideology on others in a

diversified culture like ours, working just to protect the interests of a particular community or religion, damaging the

harmonious culture of a country or breaking all democratic norms just to grab power is highly condemnable. It is the biggest

crime.

There have been several prime ministers in India including BJP’s Atal Bihari Vajpayee. He, however, always respected the dignity

of his chair. But now, Mr. Narendra Modi, just to fulfil his political aspirations, even insulted martyrdom of our former Prime

Minister Sh. Rajiv Gandhi. The way, 23 years after Rajiv Gandhi's martyrdom, Narendra Modi has insulted him, if we don't call it

petty, then what else should we call it? I just want to assert one fact; any person who dreams to become the Prime Minister of

our country must know and understand its rich culture, ethos and kindness. Such low-level politics and thinking suits neither the

BJP, Modi nor the country. You can imagine what a person like Modi whose mindset is this much low, will do for the country.

Indian society is pluralistic and leading this country is not a simple task. Good governance is based on ethics, devotion and

commitment. It is based on brotherhood and kindness. How can those who disregard our rich Ganga-Yamuna culture, run our

country.

In a democracy, politics is to serve the people and not just to grab power. There is no justification for spreading fake

development claims.

The reality of the much hyped Gujarat model which Sh. Modi is boasting about is something else. Good number of women and

kids are malnourished there. 40 per cent of rural people do not get water for drinking and irrigation. The farmers are suffering.

The most astonishing fact is that anyone who earns more than Rs. 11 a day will not be considered a poor in Gujarat. You can well

imagine what one gets at Rs. 11. Even after fixing new BPL line at Rs. 11, there are 40 lakh families are under the BPL line in

Gujarat. Please think what if this model is replicated across the country!

BJP attacks Congress by saying that we are not strong enough to fight terrorism. But in the earlier six-year rule of the BJP led

NDA, thousands of people were died in terror attacks. The horrible scenes of such tragedies are still fresh in my mind. I still

remember the terror attacks during Amarnath Yatra, at Rajiv Nagar, Nandigaon, Lalchowk and Shakti Singhpura. Because of the

strong and bold actions taken by the UPA government, the number of people died in terror attacks have come down. Congress

always dealt with firm heart against all kinds of terrorism, both from inside and outside India and will do it in future too.

We can protect our borders properly only if we are able to maintain a healthy atmosphere and a socially secured environment.

UPA government, has, therefore, implemented one-rank-one-pension scheme for our brave soldiers who put in their efforts and

sometimes sacrifice their lives to protect our country. This demand was pending since the NDA period. The BJP-led NDA did not

find it necessary to implement it.

We waived off leans of the poor farmers, increased the MSP for their crops to record high and distributed fertilizers at

subsidized cost. We will continue with such pro-farmer policies in future too. We will provide farmers with loans upto 5 lakh

rupees at low interest rate. We will bring in modern irrigation technologies. Fish cultivation and Poultry farms activities will be

connected with MNREGA.

If we get another chance to form government at the Centre, we will ensure people right to health so that the poor will be able to

get free medicine and healthcare facilities. To make our elderly people, widows and disabled self reliant, we will ensure pensions

for them. Despite our country is developing, there are still people in both urban and rural areas, who are living under temporary

sheds. We, therefore, will give right to shelter for all land less poor across the country. We will provide our youth with skill

development training so that they will be able to secure jobs.

This election is a battle of two ideologies. On one side you have forces like BJP that make people fight and do not believe in unity

and brotherhood. They spread anger and hatred among the people. They want entire wealth of our country reaches in the hands

of a selected group. They ignore the plights of the poor.

On the other side, you have the Congress party, which always fought, even sacrificed lives, to protect the integrity and harmony

of the country. We visualize a open society where every person has equal opportunity to grow. We want each citizen has equal

rights and all individuals are treated without any discrimination.

So, it is the people who must decide which ideology is useful for us, in which direction India should move and which political

party must govern our country. I am very confident that the people will take a correct decision and will support an ideology –

that of the Congress party - that takes everyone along respects every citizen.

I, therefore, urge all of you to support Congress and elect our candidates with big margins.

Thank you

Jai Hind