New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi Sunday indirectly attacked the opposition, including the BJP and the AAP, saying while one was “spreading venom in society” the other “had no ideology”.
“Certain narrow-minded elements have been spreading venom in the society. It is not only the main opposition party but some others are also involved in this. One should ask what is your ideology,” Gandhi said in Hindi in her address at a rally in Shastri Park area of northeast Delhi.
The northeast constituency of Delhi – dotted with slums and having a sizeable Muslim population – is a stronghold of the party.
“Can policies be made without ideology. Till the time you are not dedicated to an ideology, you will not be able to serve the people,” she said.
She urged the people to compare the track record of Congress with that of its opponents.
Referring to the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi’s recent criticism of former prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, the Congress chief said: “I want to ask all of you, did they spare the father of the nation Mahatma Gandhiji … no they did not. Did they spare Nehruji? He was a great freedom fighter. They did not stop criticising Indiraji.”
“Those people who did not spare the architects of our nation, would they spare Manmohan Singhji, Sheila (Dikshit)ji and Congress governments,” she said.
Targeting the BJP and its predecessors, she said: “Right since independence, they have levelled baseless allegations against the Congress.”
Making the use of witty adages in her more than 12-minute speech, Sonia attacked the BJP for ignoring the development in Delhi while crediting Dikshit for changing the face of the national capital.
“People from every section see the development in Delhi but our opponents are blind to it,” Gandhi said.
“They (the opposition) may not appreciate it (development) but the people know,” she said.
“I am also a resident of Delhi. We are witness to the development of Delhi in 15 years,” she said.
“Has Delhi changed since the first government under Sheila Dikshit … yes, it has changed … people vote for development,” Gandhi said.
She said “Delhi Metro is world famous now”, and “office-goers no longer have to travel in crowded buses”.
Gandhi’s public rally took place a day after Modi’s election meeting in Dwarka in which he had attacked Dikshit, accusing her for failing to provide even basic amenties to the people.
The crowd, consisting primarily of poor, slum dwellers and Muslims — the traditional vote bank of Congress – at the rally was fairly good than the turnout for Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi’s south Delhi rally last week.
Meanwhile, seeking to rebut Modi’s criticism of her government, Dikshit said while the country’s average GDP is 8.32 per cent, Delhi’s GDP is 10.33 per cent.
She said that the statistics show that Delhi is among the most prospersous cities in the country. “The per capita income of the people is more than Rs 2 lakh annually in Delhi, which is the best in the country.” (Agencies)