Congress won8217;t relent on JPC demand: Sonia

Kochi, March 31: Indicating the Congress move to make a bid for power at the Centre, its president Sonia Gandhi said here this evening that the forthcoming session of the Parliament will be very crucial for the country.Addressing a mammoth public meeting at Jawaharlal Nehru International Stadium here, she said the Congress will insist on setting up a Joint Parliamentary Committee to probe all corruption charges levelled against the BJP-led Government. Pointing out that the JPC was the only available mechanism for investigating corrupt practices in high offices, she said formation of such a panel was essential for revealing the truth about charges against the Defence Minister and the Finance Minister 8220;and those allegations against the steel, power and tobacco industries.8221;

The Congress refused to be a part of the BJP-gameplan to 8220;replace the RJD rule in Bihar with RSS rule8221; as it was an unconstitutional exercise. Our genuine concern was for the plight of the Dalits in Bihar while BJP8217;s politicalmachinations were aimed at cashing in on the sad situation, she said.

Opining that the Kerala population had to bear the brunt of the wrong policies of the Centre and State Governments Sonia said nothing was being done to control spiralling prices. As a result of the mis-rule by the LDF Government, farmers and farm labourers are being threatened by the plummeting prices of their produces.

8220;While in MP, the Congress gave a genuine boost to the Panchayati Raj, here in Kerala it is a sabotage of these institutions like we saw in Payyavoor,8221; she said.