Vote to strengthen Congress nationally: Sonia Gandhi to Kerala voters

Locked in a fierce contest with the CPI(M)-led LDF in Kerala, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on Monday urged voters to reject the “authoritarian and dictatorial leadership” and vote for the Congress-led UDF to strengthen the party nationally.

Gandhi, in a statement on the eve of the polls, said a vote for UDF would also strengthen the Congress nationally and help it “confront the divisive forces who are damaging and destroying all that India has stood for and represented for twenty centuries and more.”

“I am confident that you will reject authoritarian and dictatorial leadership and once again place your trust and confidence in the Congress and the UDF,” Gandhi said.

She noted that the pain and distress caused by the Covid-19 pandemic have been managed to some extent because of schemes launched by the UPA such as the MGNREGA, women’s self-help groups and social security schemes.

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“A vote for the UDF is a vote for bringing Kerala back on the path of development that ensures a decent, guaranteed monthly income to all families but particularly to the poor and the disadvantaged, to the Scheduled Castes and Sscheduled Tribes, to fishermen and women, to widows and the aged,” the Congress president said.