Naional Convention of BCC and DCC Presidents Sunday, 8th Feb 2009, Ram Lila Grounds, Delhi

Members of the CWC Block Congress Committee Presidents District Congress Committee Presidents PCC Presidents CLP Leaders and Chief Ministers, Brothers and sisters

A very warm welcome to all of you,

Let me first, on your behalf, greet our Prime Minister who is making steady progress after his heart surgery. Dr. Manmohan Singhji has led our Government with sagacity and wisdom. He has brought credit to all of us by the dignified manner in which he has guided the Congress-led UPA Government. We wish him a speedy and complete, and look forward to resuming office at the earliestThe DCC Presidents and especially the Block Congress Committee Presidents are our principal interface with the people in villages, towns and cities across our country. You represent our Party where it most matters; at the grassroots. You are the torchbearers of our vision, our policies and our programmes.

As we approach the 2009 Lok Sabha Elections, we are here today to resolve together to fight every battle, wage every struggle, make every sacrifice to secure a renewed mandate from the people of our country.

Five years ago, we went to the people on the basis of our pledges Now we go them on the strength of our performance.

Five years ago, we sought a mandate from the people to restore our age-old values of secularism and communal harmony.

Now we seek a fresh mandate to continue the battle against all those forces whose sole objective is to divide our society.

Five years ago we sought a mandate from the people to make the concerns of the aam admi the over-riding focus of our economic policies.

Now we seek a renewed mandate to continue and expand the numerous programmes that we have launched in employment, education, health, nutrition, social security, housing and water supply.

Five years ago, we wanted the people to repose their trust in us once again, to devote ourselves to the welfare of the farmers and to the empowerment of women, minorities and the weaker sections of the society.

Now we ask the people to reaffirm their faith in us so that we can continue to provide each and every Indian a life of security, dignity and prosperity.

We are ready.

We are prepared.

We are confident.

Our accomplishments in office have been solid and substantial. They speak for themselves.

They have given the people of our country a new hope, a new pride, anew sense of trust in the administration.

Creating the National Rural Employment Guarantee Act and extending it to all districts is historic. The programme is improving the lives of the poorest sections of our society

The Right to Information Act has made administration at all levels transparent and more accountable. It has enabled the participation of a very large number of citizens in the process of Governance.

The National noon mid-day meal scheme in all primary schools of the country has given lakhs upon lakhs of under-privileged children better nourishment and health. It has made school-going more attractive. Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Navodaya Vidyalayas and Kasturba Gandhi Balika vidyalayas are giving our children a new future.

The National Rural Health Mission is ensuring that adequate health facilities are more accessible in remote and rural areas.

All states have received unprecedented funding from our Government for development activities and schemes. Unlike the NDA, the Congress- led UPA Government has not discriminated against any state. The Non-Congress governments have been misleading the public by claiming the centre.s programmes as their very own. It is here that all of you have a special obligation to make the aware of who is actually responsible for these programmes.

Our farmers are the backbone of our country. Under Indiraji.s inspired leadership, they were the Khidmatgars of the Green Revolution. The massive loan waiver scheme, the reduction in interest rates, the huge expansion in irrigation and the hefty increase in procurement prises have made their lives and those of their families more secure.

Over 90% of our countrymen and women work in the unorganised sector. They do not have the benefit of the trade unions or labour laws. For the very first time, we have legislated social security, in the form of life and health insurance and old age pensions. Programmes like the aam admi bima yojana and the Indira Gandhi Old Age Pension Scheme have begun to make difference in their lives.

The empowerment of the weaker sections of society has been an article of faith for the Congress party. Lakhs of tribal families living in forest areas have been given ownership of land and minor forest produce through the landmark Tribal Rights Act. A separate Ministry of Minority Affairs has been created for the first time. The Prime Minister.s 15-point programme for the welfare of minorities and recommendations of the Sachar Committee report are being closely monitored.

Women are the strength of mankind. Their well-being is the well-being of whole families. Laws have been enacted to protect them from domestic violence and to give them equal share in inheritance. Self-help groups are receiving thousands of crores of rupees from banks and are productively distributing them among lakhs of their members.

There is a new aspiration amongst the youth-an aspiration for better education and productive employment. We have expanded the number of schools, colleges and universities. We have increased the network of vocational and skill training institutions. New education and scholarship schemes for minorities, scheduled castes and scheduled tribes are being implemented. Reservation has been extended to OBCs in professional education.

Bharat Nirman is transforming our rural areas, while Jawaharlal Nehru Urban Renewal Mission is creating much needed infrastructure in cities.

India has a new standing in the world, reflected best in the nuclear agreement we have entered into with international community on our terms. This agreement will result in generation of more electricity for our farmers and factories, for our farms and villages, for schools and colleges and our homes.

It is crucial to maintain a high level of growth. This makes it possible for Government to earn more revenues for its welfare programmes, investments and subsidy expenditures. The five years of our Government has seen the highest ever rate of economic growth. The world is now going through a recession. There is no room for complacency, but India is demonstrating its resilience. This is because of the measures we have taken. It is also because of the policies followed by earlier Congress governments.

While India.s entrepreneurs have done us proud, it is fundamentally the public sector- the legacy of Jawaharlal Nehru.that is giving our economy strength. Indiraji.s bold decision to nationalise banks in 1969 is enabling India.s financial sector weather today.s global storms.

Our Government has responded speedily to the global crisis. Stimulus packages have been announced with a focus on key employment industries. Credit for small and medium enterprises and home loans has been made cheaper. Prices of petrol and diesel have been reduced. For the first time the prices of cooking gas also have been cut.

This being a political convention, I do not want my speech to become just a catalogue of whet we have done. We are circulating separately a very detailed description of our achievements since May 2004. I expect all of you to be thoroughly familiar with them and project them extensively during the forthcoming campaign.

The commitments we made in our manifesto in 2004 have largely fulfilled.

We have repaired the grave damage done to our secular polity, our society and our country by the BJP-led NDA.

Theirs was the voice of Polarization, of division and hatred. Ours is the voice of social justice, communal harmony and inclusiveness.

Theirs was the voice of the privileged few. Ours is the voice of the multitudes- the aam admi.