Gensecs asked to explain the deal to the people
NEW DELHI: Having bitten the nuclear bullet, the Congress party has decided to aggressively campaign for the deal amongst the people. A day after the party’s apex body, the CWC gave its blessings to the deal, the party has asked its units to leave no stone unturned in popularising the deal.
At a meeting of party general secretaries, Sonia Gandhi asked her party to stop being defensive and to convince the people that the deal was in national interest and the country would gain immensely from it. Sonia also asked her general secretaries to explain to the people the extent to which the government had gone to accommodate the point of view of the Left parties.
The party has also decided to pull out all the stops in order to ensure the government wins the vote of confidence on 22 July. All the general secretaries have been asked to ensure that all the MPs from the states under their watch are present during the confidence vote.
The government, meanwhile got a shot in the arm after the IUML declared its decision to vote in favour of the UPA government on the vote of confidence. The lone Indian Muslim Union League (IUML) MP and the minister of state for external affairs E Ahmed told the media in Delhi that his party “would continue to vote and support the UAP government.”
Though the IUML has only one vote, its support is vital as it also helps blunt the charge that this deal is not in the interest of the minorities.
Ahmed told the media that his party did have some reservations about the deal but in the overall national interest they had decided to vote for the government. He also sought the blunt the opposition’s charge that the deal was anti-Muslim saying that “no government in the past had done as much as the UPA had done for the minorities”. As examples, he cited the setting up of the Sachhar committee, the doubling of the number of pilgrims sent for the Haj as well as the large number of scholarships made available to students for the minority community.
Ahmed said his party’s decision was also taken in keeping in the threat posed by the BJP. “If this government is destabilized, the BJP will be the principal gainer. I am sad that the left parties action is helping the BJP achieve its aim”, said Ahmed.
j_ansari@dnaindia.net
