Chief Minister V. Narayanasamy on Sunday said that the Tamil Nadu Government should take into consideration the statement reportedly made by All India Congress Committee (AICC) president Rahul Gandhi that he had no objection in releasing the convicts in the former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi’s assassination case.
Talking to reporters at the end of the Executive Committee meeting of the Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC), Mr. Narayanasamy said that there had been a demand from different quarters to release the convicts. The Supreme Court has stated that the Tamil Nadu Government should take a decision on the issue.
“The convicts had already undergone long period of imprisonment. The former Prime Minister’s son himself has come out with a plea and hence the State Government should take a decision on their release. But my personal view is that the convicts should not be pardoned,” he said.
Earlier, a resolution was adopted at the PCC meeting appealing to traders and all sections of people to make the Congress-called Bharat Bandh on Monday a success.
The Congress party is also organising a protest against the sky-rocketing fuel prices and the alleged corruption in the Rafale fighter jet deal in Puducherry and Karaikal on September 15. All-India Congress Committee general secretary and in-charge of party affairs in the Union Territory Mukul Wasnik would lead the protest.
Earlier, speaking at the party meeting, Mr. Narayanasamy called upon the party workers to set aside their differences and work hard to ensure the victory of the Congress in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
He said that the Narendra Modi Government at the Centre was a complete failure and the country was now steadily moving backwards. The Congress and its allies alone can bring back growth and ensure development and justice for all sections, he said.
He also said that when international crude price was around $160 a barrel, the then Congress-led UPA government sold petrol at ₹60 a litre and diesel at ₹55 a litre.
But now the price of petrol was ₹85 in Chennai and ₹80 in Puducherry, though the international price of crude was $90 a barrel. By keeping the fuel prices unchanged, the Centre had taken away close to ₹11 lakh crore of people’s money, he said.
Door-to-door campaign
The Congress also decided to organise a door-to-door campaign across the Union Territory highlighting the failure of the Narendra Modi-led BJP Government on various fronts.
Ministers A. Namassivayam, Malladi Krishna Rao, M.O.H.F. Shahjahan, Deputy Speaker V.P. Sivakolunthu and MLAs attended the PCC meeting.