Get Rid of Congress and Save Country

Says M.L. Sondhi
Frontier Mail, February 2, 1969

Addressing a mammoth election meeting in the municipal grounds here yesterday evening, Mr. M.L. Sondhi, youthful and energetic Jan Sangh Member of Parliament, lashed out at the Congress which had failed to deliver the goods in their rule of over 20 years.

He warned the people against baseless interested propaganda that the Congress alone could provide stable Government. He pertinently asked: “What has the Congress done in 20 years of its stable rule? What has been the price of this stability?” He said it would be rather correct to say that to save the country they should get rid of Congress rule.

Listing the failures of the Congress, Mr. Sondhi said they embarked on huge projects without taking into consideration their own resources and capacity. The Congress did not lay adequate stress on agriculture and industry with the result that the country had failed in both these vital spheres.

Mr. Sondhi said the country needed a positive approach both in internal as well as external policies aimed at promoting our own national interests. “Jan Sangh has the temper and the capability to live upto this promise. They would endeavour to make the country self-sufficient so that they don’t have to go around the world with a begging bowl”, he declared.

Lal Bahadur Shastri: The Jan Sangh leader said that Mr. Lal Bahadur Shastri had understood the situation correctly and raised the slogan of ‘Jai Jawan – Jai Kisan”. But he did not live for wrong. If he were alive today, he said, he would have been on the Jan Sangh platform.

Government Employees Demands: Referring to the demands of Government employees, Mr. Sondhi said they were the nation-builders and the country’s first line of defence. To strengthen them was to strengthen the nation, he added. He said 19 September strike was only a warning but the Central Government tried to suppress it. Their demands should be given due consideration and acceded to, he urged.

Teachers Demands: Making a reference to the demands of teachers, the Jan Sangh leader said Dr. Triguna Sen, Union Education Minister, should either concede their demands and have the recommendations of the Kothari Commission implemented in full or resign.

Badshah Khan: Continuing, Mr. Sondhi said that if the Congress Government had wanted, they could have secured the release of Badshah Khan and not allowed to let him rot in Pakistan jails for 15 long years. He was sent money through their Ambassador in Afghanistan but he had refused to accept it.

Defence Un-preparedness: The Jan Sangh leader strongly criticised the Congress government for defence un-preparedness and making a gift of Tibet to the Chinese. This had created a perpetual danger to the Northern frontiers. Defence expenditure which used to be around Rs. 300 crores had sky-rocked to about Rs. 1,000 crores.

Mr. Sondhi affirmed his belief in experimentation with nuclear energy, self-sufficiency and self reliance in agricultural products, and the creation of an economic democracy in which the number of poor should go down progressively.

He wanted international peace and friendship from a position of strength instead of from a position of weakness.

The former career diplomat asked the electorate to obtain a pledge from Mr. Swami that he would represent them in a way that would bring prominence to the city.

A candidate’s next campaign starts the day he is elected, he counselled.

Earlier, Mr. Nitya Nand Swami made an impassioned plea to the voters to give him a chance this time to show what he could do for the city. He pledged to do his best for the people.