Sonia to address farmers' rally at Karaikudi on Apr 5

Chennai, Mar 30 (UNI) Congress President and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi will address a farmers' rally at Karaikudi in Sivaganga district on April five and the TNCC has made arrangements to accord a grand reception to her on that day.

TNCC President M Krishnaswamy told mediapersons here today that arrangements were being made to accord a grand reception to her.

''Party functionaries have been asked to make all efforts to make the occasion a grand one,'' he said after a meeting of Congress MLAs and MPs was held at the Sathyamoorthy bhavan.

This rally is part of a series of farmers' rallies planned by the Congress.

The meeting also decided to invite party general secretary Rahul Gandhi to visit the state to rejuvenate the party youth and to strengthen the party.

Responding to a query on the BJP's Karnataka unit staking claims for Hogenakkal on the Tamil Nadu-Karnatka border, Mr Krishnaswamy said Karnataka had agreed upon in 1995 itself that Hogenakkal belonged to Tamil Nadu.

''After thoroughly verifying records, it was agreed upon that Hogenakkal belonged to Tamil Nadu and the BJP in Karnataka is only trying to gain political mileage by raking up the issue now,'' he added.

To a query, he said that the party supported the cause of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, but was totally opposed to the LTTE, which was responsible for the killing of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

UNI GV SV AS1810