Govt must strive hard to fulfil promises made in 2009 manifesto: Sonia Gandhi

At a time when the party and the government are facing tough challenges, Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a meeting held at Surajkund to take stock of political and economic issues, said, "Those in the government should strive hard to fulfil unfulfilled promises in the 2009 manifesto."

Conceding that the government must take certain decisions due to economic slowdown because of which common man faced difficulties, the Congress president added, "Our detractors want to grab power at any cost, notwithstanding that their greed would weaken democracy and secular values."

Earlier in the day, Congress President Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi in an apparent move to send out a message of austerity, took a bus ride along with other leaders to the Surajkund venue, where the party is having a brain storming meeting.
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arty sources said that the dialogue meeting (Samvad Baithak) will virtually set the agenda for the larger brainstorming at Chintan Shivir, which is likely to be organised in January next year.

The dialogue session comes after the public meeting here on November 4, which saw Sonia and Rahul strongly backing the economic reform measures initiated by the Prime Minister. The session will discuss three topics - present political situation, economic challenges and status of implementation of 2009 party manifesto.