Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi faced a number of protests, mostly from law students, on the Lankan Tamil issue during his three-day visit to Tamil Nadu.
Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi faced a number of protests, mostly from law students, on the Lankan Tamil issue during his three-day visit to Tamil Nadu.
On Tuesday, he was booed in Nagercoil and after a peaceful Wednesday, law students and lawyers showed him black flags in Salem and Coimbatore on Thursday. They alleged that the Congress-led UPA government openly supported the Sri Lankan government in its war against Tamils. If Rahul was hoping for relief in Chennai, that was not to be. He faced a volley of questions, some uncomfortable, from the media. He had to do a lot of explaining, particularly on Lanka issue.
Lanka Tamils should get rightsRahul told reporters it was wrong to say that the Centre hadn’t taken any steps to mitigate the woes of Sri Lankan Tamils. “The PM has sent Pranab Mukherjee and the NSA to Sri Lanka and the government has been putting tremendous pressure on Colombo. India is clear that Tamils in Lanka have to be given their rights,” he said. Rahul appeared uncomfortable answering questions on the issue. Some of the questions he deflected to TNCC president KV Thangkabalu. Asked about the status of Lankan refugees (close to 75,000 in 115 camps across Tamil Nadu), Thangkabalu, at Rahul’s prompting, said, “It is a state subject, but we cooperate as much as we can to ensure their well-being.”
I respect KarunanidhiRahul wound up his visit without meeting DMK chief M Karunanidhi, which irked coalition partner DMK. But he downplayed the issue, saying, “I’ve come to Chennai on three occasions and I haven’t met Karunanidhi every time. I’ve great respect for Karunanidhi... Karunanidhi also understands that I respect him a lot. The coalition is strong. The media is trying to create a division.”
No plan to meet NaliniRahul denied that he either met or had any proposal to meet Nalini Sriharan, convicted in the Rajiv Gandhi murder case. His sister Priyanka Vadra had met Nalini in Vellore jail last year.
Rajnikant welcome in CongAnybody was welcome to join the Congress, including Tamil super star Rajnikant, Rahul Gandhi said. He said the Congress practised an “open system”, wherein anybody who was willing to join the party was welcome. “We have only two barriers — criminality and extreme views on religion. I think Rajnikant is not a criminal and he is welcome to join the Congress.
UP concept won’t fit allAsked if as the chief architect of the party’s success mantra in UP he would replicate the strategy in other states, Rahul said, “I’m not the chief architect of the UP formula, I was one of the chief architects. We didn’t perform great... To think that the UP concept can be applied across the country is a shallow idea. Every state is different.”
NREGA: A tool of empowermentOn whether the number of working days under NREGA would be extended beyond 100, Rahul said, “NREGA is a tool for empowering the poor. Before Independence, we had one India. In the last 60 years, we have seen the growth of two Indias — the India of opportunities (the rich) and the India without opportunities (the poor). The BJP (India Shining) focuses only on the India of opportunities, while the Left focuses on the India without opportunities. The Congress believes that both are needed and a healthy bridge has to be built. The NREGA, education policy, health policy and the universal IDs are tools to reduce this gap.”
On Jaganmohan as AP CMRahul Gandhi said it was wrong to say that Jaganmohan Reddy was being looked at as a prospective chief minister by virtue of being the son of a politician. “He has significant achievements. I would, however, like to draw the boundary on what I can say or not,” he said.
Inter-linking rivers dangerousRahul Gandhi does not favour inter-linking of rivers. He thinks it is a disaster. “The interlinking of rivers will be extremely dangerous for the country and I don’t support it,” he said. Nature, he said, was powerful and “we shouldn’t tamper with it”.
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