Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi tour to begin on May 9

Thrissur: The Congress is set to intensify its campaign with the tour  of party president Sonia Gandhi from May 9 and vice-president Rahul Gandhi for two days. The campaign during the final  ten days will decide the outcome of the hard-fought elections, according to  KPCC president V.M. Sudheeran.  He told reporters here on Thursday that Ms Sonia Gandhi was  expected to address meetings in Thrissur and Thiruvanathapuram.

“Unfortunately, corruption is fought on the basis of politics.  The LDF, which had made the conviction of R. Balakrishna Pillai a major rallying point during the  last Assembly polls, is now in support of his party. As corruption affects the lives of the common people,  a more comprehensive stand has to be taken against it.  I wish a state vigilance commission with the chief minister, opposition leader, speaker of the Assembly and High Court chief justice as its members should be formed to keep corruption in check,” he added.

On the bar issue, he said that CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury had taken a stand that the closed bars in the state would not be reopened, but the state CPM unit had not yet accepted it. He also said that considering the drought situation in the state, the Election Commission would not come in the way of the relief measures taken up by the government.