New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Friday asked chief ministers of states ruled by the party to try and implement promises made in the manifestoes in the run up to the Assembly polls.
Mrs Gandhi, who met the chief ministers of five Congress-ruled states, also said that in the prevailing dire socio-economic and political crisis in the country perpetrated single-handedly by the BJP governments at the centre and in various states, the states ruled by the Congress party are not only the standing, safe sanctuaries of democracy, people-centric governance and economic re-monetisation but also the strongest bulwark against the misgovernance of the BJP.
The meeting, attended by former PM Dr. Manmohan Singh, former defence minister A.K. Antony, general secretary in-Charge K.C. Venugopal and Congress treasurer Ahmed Patel, also discussed the concrete and outstanding achievements of the respective state governments even in the face of constant destabilising efforts on the part of the BJP.
The Congress president also stressed the need to put into place effective coordination between the party organizations and governments in these states to ensure that, by working in tandem, all the programmes of the government and commitments of the party could be taken seamlessly to the people.
Sources said she asked the respective state governments to assign duties on a regular basis to ministers on a roster basis to sit in PCC offices and address public issues.
Mrs Gandhi earlier in the day met Congress leaders from the North East.
"At the meeting, it was decided to strengthen and consolidate the North Eastern Coordination Committee and to establish its permanent office at Guwahati. The committee has decided to hold at least one meeting every three months so that all leaders can meet, discuss their problems and take decisions expeditiously," President of Tripura Pradesh Congress Committee Pradyot Manikya said.
Another senior leader said that Mrs. Gandhi asked for an underlining of the problems of large numbers of"genuine citizens" who have been left out of NRC list and blamed the BJP for deliberately botching up the whole exercise by politicising the issue. "The Citizenship Amendment Bill was also discussed which, despite having been summarily rejected by the Rajya Sabha, is again being stoked by BJP leaders," he said.
