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| Wednesday, 9 July 2003 |
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India's opposition 'ready for elections anytime' SHIMLA, India, Tuesday (AFP) India's main opposition Congress party kicked off a three-day brainstorming session in this north Indian resort town with a warning to the government that it is ready for elections "anytime." "There is talk that the .. government may plan to order a snap poll sometime after the state elections which take place this year. Let me make it very clear that the Congress is ready for elections anytime," party leader Sonia Gandhi said in her opening address. "The people of this country are waiting to elect a new government," she said. The meeting is being attended by senior party leaders as well as Congress chief ministers of 15 Indian states. It comes just months before provincial elections in three important Congress-ruled states - Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Delhi. The 118-year-old party, which is India's oldest and has ruled the country for most of its independence since 1947, has spent its longest stint out of power since losing national elections seven years ago. During the meeting, the party is expected to discuss slogans and poll campaign themes for national elections due to be held by October next year, as well as policy on key issues including the economy. Launching a blistering attack on India's ruling National Democratic Alliance, headed by the Hindu nationalist BJP party, Gandhi said it had failed "on all fronts, including the political, economic and security fronts." "This government has failed to tackle the issue of terrorism in Kashmir. As if this were not enough this government is even misusing the issue of terrorism instead," she alleged. "I want to ask the prime minister what the country gained by sending troops to the Indo-Pak border for nine months, as cross border terrorism from Pakistan continues unabated," Gandhi said. Gandhi also repeated her party's strong opposition to India sending troops as part of a stablisation force in Iraq. |
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