NEWSLINKS US EDITION COLUMNISTS DIARY SPECIALS INTERVIEWS CAPITAL BUZZ REDIFF POLL THE STATES ELECTIONS ARCHIVES SEARCH REDIFF
In the run-up to the elections in five states across the country next month, the plenary session of the AICC on Saturday resolved to adopt an aggressive campaign strategy for wresting power from opposition parties ruling the respective states, and retaining power in Pondicherry.
The political resolution moved on the first day of the session in Bangalore has appealed to the people of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Pondicherry, West Bengal and Assam to exercise their democratic choice carefully, keeping in view both regional concerns and national imperatives.
Hailing the withdrawal of support by the Trinamul Congress to the ruling National Democratic Alliance government in the wake of the defence deals expose, the Congress has refused to be the B-team of either communism or communalism in West Bengal.
"In the Left Front-ruled West Bengal, the party will continue its crusade against the venality and violence which characterised over two decades of the CPM-led rule," the resolution stated.
Welcoming the decision of the Trinamul Congress, the Congress said it was prepared to work with the non-Left secular forces to install a secular government at Writers Building in Calcutta.
The resolution appealed to Trinamul Congress president Mamata Banarjee to officially infom the President of India of the party's decision to snap its ties with the NDA for forging an alliance with the Congress to wrest power from the Left Front.
"We hope Mamata will see reason to associate with the Congress now that she has realised the true colours of the NDA and walked out of the government by withdrawing support to the ruling alliance at the right time," it said.
In Tamil Nadu, the resolution said the party's priority was to dislodge the 'unholy' DMK-BJP combine. "There is nothing in the history or goals of these two parties, one an atheist (DMK) and the other pro-Hindutva, to justify the alliance forged to prop up each other at the state as well as at the Centre."
Appealing to the electorate of Tamil Nadu to throw out the corrupt DMK government, the resolution said a defeat for the DMK wll be a body blow to the BJP in the country. "Rescuing the country from communalism for upholding the cause of secularism must begin from Tamil Nadu," it added.
In Kerala, the resolution expressed confidence that a united Congress and its allies in the United Democratic Front (UDF) would overcome the ruling Left Democratic Front (LDF) to restore the state on the path of progress.
"The mindless violence and endless blood-letting of the LDF has to be ended. The mounting problems of the farmers and planters have to be addressed. The ruling LDF has failed to prevent the economic disaster brought about by unbridled imports of copra and coconut oil. The record of Kerala in human development built by the erstwhile UDF governments has taken a beating even as the state slipped into a morass on the job front," the resolution said.
In Assam, the resolution said the people of the north-east state were anxiously looking forward to end the misrule of the Assam Gana Parishad. "Murder and mayhem has become the order of the day in Assam. Every section of the population in the state is living in fear. Since there is no governance, economic activity is at a standstill."
The resolution has urged the electorate of Assam to vote the present government out to save the state from the ineptitude of the AGP.
EARLIER REPORT Congress to oust government 'step by step'
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