Hyderabad: Former Minister & ex-Leader of Opposition in Telangana Legislative Council Mohammed Ali Shabbir said that Congress president Sonia Gandhi has empowered the poor and common citizens of India by enacting several legislations as the chairperson of Congress-led United Progressive Alliance (UPA) from 2004-2014.
He was speaking after distributing blankets among 500 poor people at Kamareddy District Congress Committee office on the occasion of the 74th birthday of AICC President Sonia Gandhi on Wednesday. The blanket distribution was organised by Shabbir Ali Foundation.
Shabbir Ali said that it was on her birthday in 2009 when Sonia Gandhi first made the announcement that the Central Government would begin the process of formation of Telangana State. Despite facing serious opposition from the Congress leaders from Seemandhra region and also a few other States, she honoured the promise of giving statehood for Telangana. “Telangana would not have been a reality without Sonia Gandhi. We will remain indebted to her throughout our lives for turning a 60-year-old dream into a reality,” he said adding that Sonia Gandhi gave a huge political sacrifice of losing power in both Andhra and Telangana just to honour her words.
The Congress leader described Sonia Gandhi as a visionary who empowered the poor people and common citizens with many revolutionary laws. Citing instances, he said that the UPA Govt, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, ensured employment for rural poor through Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGA). As the chairperson of UPA, Sonia Gandhi was instrumental in introduction of other revolutionary laws including Right to Information (RTI), Right to Education, Food Security Act, etc., “Present BJP Govt, which introduced three controversial agricultural laws to benefit the corporates, must learn something from Sonia Gandhi. None of the laws introduced by the UPA Govt faced any objection from the poor and common people as they were genuinely meant for their empowerment,” he said.
Shabbir Ali said that the Congress party was not celebrating Sonia Gandhi’s birthday this year at a grand scale as the AICC President herself has directed the cadre to help the poor instead of wasting money on celebrations. The birthday celebrations have been kept a low key affair due to ongoing agitation by farmers and also due to Covid-19 pandemic. He said Sonia Gandhi always motivated the Congress leaders and cadre to help and serve the people. He reminded that the Shabbir Ali Foundation had distributed over 50,000 meals, sanitizers, masks, food items, cash and other essentials in Kamareddy district during the lockdown period in view of Covid-19 pandemic.
Kamareddy DCC President Kaila Srinivas Rao, Kamareddy Town President Pandla Raju, PCC Secretary Indira Karan Reddy, Kamareddy Town Youth Congress president G. Srinivas, municipal councillors and other senior leaders were also present on the occasion.
