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Shahid K Abbas in Mount Abu
The Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Saturday accused the central government of consciously discriminating against Congress-ruled states.
She was addressing a press conference at the conclusion of the party's chief ministers' conclave in Mount Abu.
Asked whether she looked upon herself as a prime ministerial candidate, she said, "That is not the question we need to address now. I think we [Congress] have done quite well and I'm quite satisfied now. But we think there is still room for working more."
Remaining non-committal on the question of whether her son Rahul Gandhi will be taking over as the chief of the Seva Dal, Gandhi pointed out that both her children were 'grown up' enough to take their own decisions. "I made my own decision, my husband took his own decision and in our family no one decides for the other," she said.
To a question if she was open to the idea of a coalition, she said, "Generally Congress is committed to the primacy of the party. But if the situation demands, the party will not have a closed mind on working with like-minded parties."
Gandhi, who maintained her non-committal stance in regard to the Samajwadi Party's demand for Congress support to form a secular government in Uttar Pradesh in the backdrop of the ongoing flux in Lucknow, explained, "We are not in the business of toppling elected governments. But as the situation in UP is fluid, we have requested the state governor to convene a special session."
Responding to the reported starvation deaths in Rajasthan, she said that Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot has formed a two-member committee, which would submit its report soon.
Rajasthan, she said, was facing the fourth drought in a row. "The plight of the people of the Rajasthan is the same as that of the people of Andhra Pradesh," she said.
Elaborating on her charge that the Centre was adopting discriminatory attitude towards Congress-ruled states, she said the government did nothing even after some Congress chief ministers had briefed Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in August.
Asserting that there was no confusion on her party's position on divestment, Gandhi said, "We are not against divestment per se. We are against divestment of profit making units."
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