Union Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari on Thursday said that the next general elections would be a contest between the forces which are fighting for empowering the common man led by the Congress and those who are watching and articulating the interests of the capitalist forces led by the opposition.
He said the Akali-BJP Government in Punjab was the representative of the same capitalist forces who could not look beyond their own interests.
In an informal conversation with reporters along the sidelines of the Chhappar mela here today, Tewari pointed out that the Congress led-UPA Government at the Centre during the last nine years had consistently tried and empowered the common man with many laws and legislations, which had no parallels in history across the world.
Earlier addressing the function, he said whether it was the Right to Information (RTI) in 2005 or the Right to 100 days employment in a year, or the Right to Education (RTE) or the Food Security Act or the Land Acquisition Act, all these were aimed at improving the plight of common man and empowering him despite strong opposition by the capitalist forces who want the benefits to remain restricted to a limited few.
Tewari said the UPA Government took these initiatives despite strong resistance and argument that this would have massive strain on the economy.
He further said the UPA under the leadership of the Congress President Sonia Gandhi and the Prime Ministership of Dr. Manmohan Singh, has fought against all the odds and ensured that the common man got his rights.
He assured that the UPA Government had already taken care of the economy and worked out the expenses for these welfare schemes.
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He said the recently passed Food Security Act would provide highly subsidised food to over 80 crore people across the country, and added that such a welfare measure has no parallel anywhere in the world aimed at eliminating the hunger from the country.
The Minister told the people that the decision would be theirs in the coming elections to choose between the two.
"On the one side there is Congress which is fighting for empowerment of the common man and on the other side there are capitalist forces who just watch their own interest alone", he said.