NEW DELHI (TIP):
Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on August 20 slammed the Narendra Modi government for peddling the schemes and policies of UPA as its own, saying the rival which came to power by selling “false dreams” was now propagating falsehoods. Speaking at a conclave of women workers on the occasion of Rajiv Gandhi’s birth anniversary, Sonia said, “We (UPA) did so much but some people laid a trap that misled the people.

Our work was ignored and those who showed false dreams sneaked ahead.” Keeping the pressure on the Modi regime, the Congress chief and former PM Manmohan Singh later spoke about rising communal incidents in different parts of the country at a function to confer the Rajiv Gandhi communal amity award to noted film director Muzaffar Ali. Sonia tore into the NDA government by telling the women’s gathering that the rival was unable to shed its habits and was showing the schemes of UPA as that of NDA.

Alluding to the PM’s stress on sanitation and toilets in his I-Day speech, she asked, “Who started Nirmal Bharat Abhiyan in every village? Who made construction of toilets a part of MGNREGA?” With loud cries of “we” in response, Sonia said Congress also championed the cause of women’s empowerment, listing initiatives like domestic violence law, women’s share in family inheritance, self-help groups as well as old-age pension and appointment of India‘s first woman President and Speaker.

Sonia told workers that election victory and defeat were part of the game but the party would stick to its principles, listing women’s quota as its priority. “Today, we are in opposition but we will not back out on our pledge and will put pressure on NDA to pass the women’s quota bill,” she said. Rahul Gandhi said sexual assault and rapes had to be exterminated from society.

He lamented that people worshipped women as goddesses but also perpetrated sexual crimes on them. He accused BJP of wanting to keep women at home, without power and education, while Congress wants them to be free and empowered. Meanwhile, Manmohan Singh expressed concern over rising communal incidents, saying it pointed to the need for greater effort to build bonds of trust and friendship between communities.