The Hindu : Sonia invites secular parties to join hands

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 10, 2003

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Sonia invites secular parties to join hands

By Javed M. Ansari

Shimla July 9. The Congress today appealed to all secular parties to joins hands to ensure the defeat of the BJP and its allies, virtually laying the foundation for an alliance.

In her address at the end of the three-day Congress conclave here, the party president, Sonia Gandhi, said: "The prevailing situation in the country makes it incumbent on all secular parties to evolve a strategy for combating communalism and religious fundamentalism, and for ensuring the defeat of the BJP and its allies."

The six-page Shimla `sankalp' (resolution), read out to the delegates by the AICC secretary, Selja, invited all "progressive thinking men and women, institutions, and political movements," who share the party's concerns and its vision to join hands in the ideological and electoral battle ahead.

The thrust of Ms. Gandhi's speech was an attempt to rally the party cadre for a prolonged ideological and electoral battle against the BJP and its allies. Conscious of the fact that the issue was agitating the minds of the partymen, she dwelt at length on the issues in an attempt to clear the ambiguities.

The natural progression in the party's views on the issue was unmistakable. At Pachmarhi it hedged its bets, while at its plenary session it indicated its willingness to forge alliances. "The party will be prepared to enter into appropriate electoral or coalition arrangements with secular parties," it had said in Bangalore.

In her concluding remarks, Ms. Gandhi sought to remove any ambiguities that may have existed on the issue.The party's appeal to secular parties was nuanced — the underlying message was that the proposed alliance would have to be a Congress-led alliance, and under the leadership of Ms. Gandhi. The message was implicit in the formulation on the issue in the Shimla resolution: "We now seek the support of the people to bring India back on the path of progress with the Congress under the leadership of Ms. Sonia Gandhi."

Turning to the Ayodhya issue, Ms. Gandhi made it clear that the party favoured a solution through the court.

"We are not against the facilitation of a negotiated settlement among the parties to the dispute, but the settlement must have complete legal sanction," she said. On Kashi and Mathura, she reiterated the Congress' commitment to the Protection of Places of Worship Act, 1992, which freezes the status of all places of worship other than Ayodhya as on August 15, 1947.

Opportunism, says BJP; Left says `no': Page 11

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