Sonia kickstarts poll campaign in J&K

AICC president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi asks the women in Jammu and Kashmir to contribute their might in ensuring a win for the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.

AICC president and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi on Saturday asked the women in Jammu and Kashmir to contribute their might in ensuring a win for the Congress in the forthcoming Assembly elections in the state.

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Kickstarting the poll campaign in J&K, Gandhi, who arrived here accompanied by home minister Shivraj Patil and JKPCC president and minister for water resources Saifuddin Soz, promised passage of the women's reservation Bill in Parliament.

"Creating reservation for women in democratic institutions was the last desire of late prime minister, Rajiv Gandhi. Women must work together to strengthen the Congress party and ensure its victory in the state," Gandhi said to the one-day Mahila Congress Convention at Parade Ground.

Gandhi referred to the 1989 panchayati raj scheme, the anganwari movement, the Asha scheme and the Indira Gandhi old age pension scheme at the meeting and mentioned that the Centre has provided a Rs 4,500 crore development package to the state.

Complimenting chief minister Ghulam Nabi Azad on the step, she said that the government is constructing more than 4,000 houses there to accommodate 25,000 displaced people.