SRINAGAR/NEW DELHI, 1 June 2003 — At the end of the two-day brainstorming meeting of chief ministers of the 15 Congress-ruled states, Sonia Gandhi left little doubt of the party’s blueprint for the assembly elections and parliamentary polls next year. She said: “Where the party’s political strategy is concerned, Congress is open to forming a national coalition against communal forces. On the national level, we are open to working with secular parties to defeat communal forces.”
On coalitions in various states, she commented: “They are in the hands of the chief ministers and PCC (Pradesh Congress Committee) presidents.”
The party’s electoral slogan is “Congress ke haath, garib ke saath — Congress is with the poor.” Elaborating on the slogan, Gandhi called on her chief ministers to implement rural poverty alleviation measures, employment generation schemes and food-for-work programs.
Supporting Prime Minister Vajpayee’s Pakistan initiative, she said: “We have always believed that the doors of diplomacy and the windows of dialogue with Pakistan should be kept open.”
Lashing out at BJP’s Hindutva approach, Gandhi congratulated Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot for arresting Pravin Togadia. Taking this as a warning against Gujarat-like experiments with Hindutva by other Congress leaders, Gandhi said: “Let us not look at what is electorally expedient.”
