Choosing not to engage in a confrontation with Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee, Congress president Sonia Gandhi today refrained from a rebuttal to his speech but stuck to her criticism of the NDA government’s failures.Sonia labelled the Central government as a ‘‘government of scams’’ and revived the Congress’ policy for reaching out to the poor and backward classes.Addressing a massive ‘‘Desh Bachao’’ rally in the Capital today, Sonia repeated the message which she delivered at the convention of the Congress block presidents, on March 28. On March 29, Vajpayee at an NDA rally had criticised Sonia’s assurances of poverty alleviation and had also demanded to know the party stand on coalitions.Sonia’s political secretary Ambika Soni points out, ‘‘The message of the Congress president had to remain same for the block presidents and also for the thousands of workers present today. Because she is seeking to give a single direction to all of them.’’On why Sonia had side-stepped the issues raised by Vajpayee yesterday, Soni said: ‘‘We are charting our own goals and directions. We won’t let them divert our attention.’’Flanked by Chief Ministers Digvijay Singh, Sushil Kumar Shinde, Ashok Gehlot, Sheila Dikshit, Ajit Jogi, S.M. Krishna and Virbhadra Singh, Sonia attacked the NDA government’s record of corruption.‘‘They have failed on all fronts. Only in one field, they have achieved historical success and stability. And that is all-round corruption.It is a Government of ‘saudagars’ (dealers)’’, she said. Sonia added that the the government had done the opposite of its promise of removing ‘fear, hunger and corruption.’’Calling the Government ‘‘cruel,’’ Sonia said, Naujawan ka haath khali, aam aadmi ki jeb khali, kisanka khet khali aur garib ka pet khali (the young are jobless, common man is without money, farmers’ fields are barren and the poor has empty stomach).Speaking earlier, Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh said, ‘‘Just 5 km away is Red Fort and we want Sonia Gandhi to hoist the flag from its ramparts. Rajasthan Chief Minister Ashok Gehlot said: ‘‘Yesterdays NDA rally shows that the Prime Minister was too worried about Congress’ slogan for standing up for the poor.’’Karnataka Chief Minister S.M. Krishna said, ‘‘It is only the Congress that has its workers in every nook and corner of the country.’’ Maharashtra Chief Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde said: ‘‘I have been around in the party for such a long time but it is only Sonia Gandhi who decided that a Dalit should be given a chance to become chief minister.’’Sonia also highlighted the examples of violence like the Godhra incident and its aftermath, the attack at Akshardham, the Raghunath temple, Kaluchak and Parliament attacks. She reiterated the commitment of Congress towards terrorism saying that the party had lost three of its leaders, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi in the fight against terrorism.
