Cong has lost credibility 8212; Sathe

According to him, repealing the Supreme Court judgement in the Shah Bano case was the time when the party unnecessarily tried to appease a section of people. 8220;Myself and one of Rajiv Gandhi8217;s Cabinet colleagues opposed the move. Even Rajivji was against repealing the verdict and said we should stand by the Supreme Court judgement. But a group of over-enthusiastic partymen pressurised the then Prime Minister for repealing it, obviously to gain popular support from a particular community,8221; he said. He alleged that in the process, the party preached secularism while practising casteism and communalism.

Besides, the party made several mistakes during the period, he said. 8220;The party which was developed by towering leaders like Mahatma Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi, had given tickets to those who had corruption charges on them. 8220;At least the Congress could have prevented corrupt partymen 8212; who were charge-sheeted and involved in criminal activities 8212; from contesting elections,8221; he said.

Sathe lashed out at the previous Congress regime for initiating liberalisation and globalisation policies. He felt the Congress could not get away from the responsibility of the present mess on the economic front. 8220;How can the Congress take credit only for good things and blame the rivals for the ills. We should not forget that the century-old party ruled the country for over four decades,8221; he pointed out. However, he said Manmohan Singh had introduced the new economic policy with good intention but it had now become disastrous for the nation.

According to Sathe, there is no alternative to the Nehruvian model of economy. 8220;It is relevant today because it is pro-poor and is based on self-reliance,8221; he said and urged the party leadership to adopt it again as its economic policy.

Sathe took a strong exception to the proposed disinvestment policy of the government and asserted that it would not solve the basic economic problem of the country. 8220;The only alternative is to strengthen the direct tax concept for generating more revenues,8221; he said.

He said the Union Government would not even be able to achieve the disinvestment target of Rs 10,000 crore in the coming financial years.

Sathe said party president Sonia Gandhi has her own limitations. She alone cannot revive the organisation. The party has to groom its second rank of leadership. He called upon the young leaders like Digvijay Singh, S M Krishna and Madhavrao Scindia to take up the responsibility of rejuvenating the organisation.