Notwithstanding apprehensions voiced by intelligence agencies, Congress president Sonia Gandhi and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will tour Arunachal Pradesh to campaign in the Assembly elections in the state on October 13.
In a day trip on October 8 to the north-eastern state, Gandhi is scheduled to address a meeting in Itanagar, while Prime Minister Singh?s programme is being finalised, Congress sources said on Wednesday. They said that there was a demand from the state Congress for Rahul Gandhi on which a decision is yet to be taken. ?It is possible that he will tour the Tawang region,? an AICC functionary said, underlining that the decision to campaign was a deliberate one, though the perception in the party is that the Congress would emerge victorious in the state even without its senior leadership going to Arunachal.
That the government was intent on making a point in Arunachal was evident when finance minister Pranab Mukherjee, who was in the state on Wednesday, underlined that there was no question of India surrendering its sovereign rights over the state. ?We have made it clear that there is no question of surrendering our sovereign rights over Arunachal. The question does not arise. There were 11 rounds of discussions (on the boundary question) in the last six to seven years. We consistently said that we cannot accept China?s claim on Arunachal,? he told a press conference in Itanagar.