BHUBANESWAR, February 25: Former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao has said a new leadership was in the offing in the Congress party. Speaking to reporters at the airport here after two days of campaigning for Chief Minister J B Pattnaik's wife Jayanti, Rao said a new resurgence in the Congress, felt for the past couple of months, had put the party on the comeback trail.He said the election campaign of the Congress had been well taken care of. Sonia Gandhi had generated a tremendous response all over the country and a new enthusiasm was felt among the party workers. Asked whether Sonia was being projected as the party's prime ministerial candidate, Rao said that was for the high command to decide.
On being denied the party ticket, Rao quipped that ``this is a matter between me and the party.'' Referring to his visit to Berhampur for campaigning, he said being the sitting MP, he felt that it was his duty to serve the people of his constituency. Moreover, the party candidate for the seat had invited him tocampaign.
Asked about the Congress party's prospects in the election, Rao said it would not be fair to say anything on the matter. ``The man who keeps track of the developments would be in a better position to speak in this regard.'' During his two-day visit, Rao addressed four election meetings in the constituency in favour of Patnaik.
Earlier on Tuesday, while addressing his second election meeting in support of Jayanti at the City High School ground here, Rao asserted that Congress was the only party which could provide a stable government in the country.Rao asked the people to vote for Jayanti whom he described as one of the ablest ladies in Indian politics.
Rao, who was denied ticket by his party, said, ``I was supposed to come here as a candidate, but I have come to seek votes for my sister Jayanti.''
Showering praises on Jayanti, he said the people of Berhampur were fortunate to have an able and dynamic candidate like her. Rao, who arrived 45 minutes late, launched a scathing attack on theOpposition political parties for their failure to provide a stable government. ``I charge the United Front with derailing the parliamentary democracy,'' he said, adding ``the only positive thing that happened in the last 20 months is the collapse of the UF government.''
Alleging that all the developmental programmes started by him were stopped after United Front came to power, the former prime minister cited the example of K-B-K programme which came to naught because of the weak government at Centre. He said J B Patnaik went to Delhi several times during the last one-and-a-half years, but nothing could happen.
Dwelling mostly on his government's performance, Rao said he provided Rs 1 crore to each MP every year for developmental work in their constituencies. ``If the money does not reach the people, what can I do?'' he asked.
Without naming the BJP candidate Gopinath Gajapati, Rao said the BJP in a hurry to grab power is distributing tickets to `defectors' without considering their efficiency. Rao alsospoke in Telugu for a few minutes to woo the Telugu bidda (voters).
The Chief Minister, in his address, also attacked the non-Congress parties saying the sole aim of these parties was to grab power. He ridiculed the BJP-BJD alliance which was dreaming to come to power both at Centre and in the State. Jayanti Patnaik, who started her speech in Telugu, switched over to Oriya. Claiming herself as the daughter of the soil, she tried to touch the emotional cord of the people by narrating her father's contribution during the freedom struggle. The crowd at the meeting was not enthusiastic. People started leaving the venue when Rao talked about his government's performance.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
