Union Minister Narayanasamy, who is seeking re-election from Puducherry, tried to instill confidence among the cadre by citing that in the past Congress had won the elections without any alliance and allies are not really necessary to win an election.
At a meeting of the Mahila Congress here on Saturday, Narayanasamy listed out the various schemes which have come to Puducherry on account of his efforts and spoke about the benevolence of the Union government in providing `770 crore recently. He called upon the party cadre to approach people by projecting it.
Claiming that Congress government at the Centre has been more beneficial for Puducherry, he pointed out that during the previous NDA government led by A B Vajpayee, only `100 crore was granted to Puducherry, but during the Congress tenure `3,000 crore has been provided.He said that Centre has also given Puducherry’s share of fund in the construction of rail overbridges while he has been providing funds from MPLADs fund for construction of infrastructure facilities which are the responsibilities of the UT government.
Party Woos Students
Understanding that the 1.25 lakh new voters, particularly the 46,000 first time voters, can be decisive in a contest that is likely to be stiff between Congress and its main challenger AINRC in a multi-cornered contest, the Congress has started wooing them with the contribution made by the Central government in the educational sector in Puducherry. At the same time Congress is attempting to project the failure of the AINRC government on the educational front by hitting out at improper implemention of schemes.
Colourful eye catching pamphlets with the punch line ‘Central assistance sets Puducherry on the path of educational development’ and photographs of Centre’s benevolence are being distributed among the young voters. Besides this, the party draws a comparison between the implementation of the schemes under the Congress and the AINRC regime. The pamphlet says the schemes that were introduced by the Congress government were a success, but after AINRC government came to power the schemes are in a pathetic state.
Another thing projected in the pamphlet is a picture of students standing in front of the portrait of Kamaraj with the catchline ‘Why the Chief Minister is out to spoil our future?’
The pamphlet also details the assistance provided by the Centre to establish various projects in the UT and the schemes executed by the Congress government.
Whether the ploy by the Congress will cut the ice among the young voters or AINRC will counter it with another strategy is to be seen.