KOCHI, Jan 17: ``Give your votes to the Congress Party which alone is capable of giving a stable and secular government, to benefit each and every citizen of India, without fear or favour,'' appealed Sonia Gandhi to the mammoth crowd that had assembled at the Marine Drive Grounds in Kerala's commercial capital on Friday.Her cleverly crafted speech began by addressing the crowd as Sahodari sahodaranmare, suhruthukkale, namaskaram. ``The Congress can provide a successful and stable rule. Make the Congress strong for the future, forgetting caste, community and religion. Vote for the Congress and vote for India which was made strong by the Congress, which alone can provide an effective and a stable government,'' she said.
``I believe the Congress has the vision to see all of India as equal partners, to go peacefully and successfully into the 21st century,'' she reiterated, adopting an emotional vein to appeal to the people that only by ``voting the Congress to power will the dream of my husband, Rajiv
Gandhi, be realised, for which he had laid down his life. By voting the Congress, his dream would be translated into reality.''
``I had never wanted to enter the political arena. I was compelled to step in following the tradition of my family to help the Congress in its hour of crisis. My love and understanding for India was evolved in the 30 years since I came as a daughter-in-law of the Gandhi household. I have come out of devotion to India, not for any official position, she said.
Sonia arrived one hour behind schedule at 6 pm, and was vociferously and heartily welcomed by the packed crowd whom she greeted in traditional Malayali namaskaram. She patted Kerala's ego by recalling the state's great contributions, great saints like Sankara, and of Sree Narayana Guru. Also, contributions of the Malayali to the national exchequer by labouring abroad were hailed, and she vowed that India had concern for the Malayali.
Cautions against religious barriers
Sonia Gandhi today cautioned the people
against parties which create barriers of religion, caste and region to realise their political ambition.Launching the Congress campaign in Goa, she told a public rally at Azad Maidan here that the future of India and its stability and prosperity was "threatened by narrow and selfish interests which put themselves and their ambitions before the interests of the people they should be serving."
By Goan standards of attendance of political meetings, the only meeting she addressed at Panaji's Azad Maidan could be said to be well-attended.
Although Congress party was anticipating a turnout of 20,000 people, police estimates placed Azad Maidan crowd at not more than 5,000. Sonia was accompanied on the dais by State Chief Minister Pratapsing Rane and his deputy Dr. Wilfred D'Souza.
Copyright © 1998 Indian Express Newspapers (Bombay) Ltd.
