With UPA coming under a barrage of attacks from opposition and anti-graft activists, Gandhi said it was only Congress and the alliance led by it that took head on the 'cancer of corruption'.
"We all know corruption is a disease, a cancer. Who does it affect the most, it is the poor. No other party has done what Congress and UPA have done to fight corruption," she told a public meeting ahead of assembly elections due early next year in Karnataka.
Gandhi said it was UPA, not NDA, which brought in the RTI Act because of which "these scandals are coming out."
Maintaining that Congress was "serious" about fighting corruption, she alleged it was BJP which stalled the Lokpal Bill in Rajya Sabha. "Is BJP just pretending to fight corruption ?" she said.
Targeting BJP-ruled Karnataka hit by several scandals, she also accused the party of running "corrupt governments" in Madhya Pradesh, Gujarat, Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand.
She alleged people in the state were fed up with BJP because it had made "empty promises" and "betrayed" their mandate.
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"Corruption and failure have marred BJP's governance in the state," she said adding people would give a "right answer" to it.
In a pep talk to state Congressmen, who present a picture of a divided house, she said they had a great responsibility to convert the anger against the BJP government into votes and urged party leaders to work in unison. "Whenever Congress has fought unitedly, it has swept elections in the country."
"We cannot remain complacent and take things for granted...I appeal to you to sink your differences, work together to bring back Congress party to power," she said.
Gandhi also defended the UPA government's decision to allow FDI in multi-brand retail sector, saying by doing so "we are ensuring a direct link between the farmers and the market and also enable consumers to buy at lower prices." MORE