Congress to put up no-holds barred fight against Left:Alva

Kochi, Mar 6 (UNI) The Congress will fight the Left parties ''every inch of the way'' in Kerala and other states and defeat them in a befitting manner in the next month's assembly elections, party All-India General Secretary Margaret Alva said today.

Inaugurating the General Body Meeting of the Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) here, Mrs Alva said there was a clear difference between the politics at the Centre and in the states.

''While we will talk to the Left parties at the Centre and convince them about our programmes, in the states, we will fight for every inch. There will be no compromise and we will defeat them in a befitting manner,'' she added.

Accusing the left parties of rigging successive elections in West Bengal, Mrs Alva said the state had been dragged to the dark ages under the Communist rule. ''Let them not come to power in Kerala and tamper with the democratic credentials of the state,'' she added.

Mrs Alva also accused the Left parties of adopting different standards in Kerala, West Bengal and in Delhi. ''I do not know in how many languages they speak. Their language changes with the region,'' she said.

While opposing the UPA Government programmes such as the airport modernisation in Mumbai and Delhi, the Left party Government in West Bengal had no qualms about throwing out poor farmers and slum dwellers near Kolkata to make way for a new cyber city, she said.

While the Left front claimed to be pro-people, more than 90 per cent of the rural households in West Bengal had no electricity.

There had been nearly 44,000 political murders in the past 29 years of ''Red Rule'' in the eastern state. But, no cases were registered about these as there were Left party unions in the police force, which was unprecedented in the country, she added.

Claiming that there was a pro-Congress sentiment in Kerala, especially after the installation of the UPA Government at the Centre, Mrs Alva exhorted the party workers to go all-out to explain to the people the various developmental programmes launched by the Governments both at the Centre and in the state.

Stating that the coming assembly polls were crucial for the UPA, Mrs Alva urged the workers to put up a united fight.

The Congress Working Commitee member A K Antony, Union Minister for Overseas Indian Affairs Vayalar Ravi and KPCC president Ramesh Chennithala also spoke at the inauguration of the general body meeting.

Resolutions on six major areas -- political, economic, organisational, external affairs, agriculture, panchayati raj and cooperation and achievements of the UDF Government -- were later presented at the meeting. These will be discussed at the KPCC plenary tomorrow before being passed to form the campaign agenda for the assembly elections.

UNI ARC KVV MSJ DS1517