Mangalore, Oct 18: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today lashed out at the BJP saying it was only "pretending to fight corruption".
Addressing Congress workers rally here, Sonia Gandhi asked: "It is the UPA, not NDA which brought the RTI Act, that so many scams are coming out. We wanted to pass the Lok Pal Bill, who stopped it? It's the BJP which blocked it in Rajya Sabha. We passed it in the Lok Sabha.
" Our party took action against our leaders who were found indulging in corruption. I want to ask the BJP, what action it has taken against its own leaders indulging in corruption in Karnataka, in Gujarat, in Madhya Pradesh , in Jharkhand, in Bihar and in Chhatisgarh?"
Corruption is a cancer, Sonia Gandhi said, which is hurting the poor people and common citizens the most. But the BJP is only pretending to fight corruption.
Sonia Gandhi touched issues relating to FDI in retail, and reminded that it was the NDA government which was going to bring out FDI in retail. "They (BJP) are attacking just for the sake of attacking us", she said.
The Congress president said, FDI in retail will give remunerative prices to farmers and consumers would get products at cheaper prices.
Sonia Gandhi asked why the BJP governments in the states are not extending the number of subsidized LPG cylinders from six to nine. "Ask this government(Karnataka), why they are not raising the number of gas cylinders to nine. All our Congress chiefministers have already raised the number of cylinders to nine", she said.
"We continue to subsidize kerosene, but there was no option but to raise the prices of diesel and cooking gas. In spite of this, UPA government is doing its best not to put further hardships on the common man".
Sonia Gandhi appealed to Congress workers to sink their differences and remain united to fight the "communal forces" in Karnataka, who she alleged, were spreading hatred among communities.
"If the party loses, we all lose. Since the time of Indiraji, whenever our party has been united, we have always swept the polls", Sonia Gandhi said.
