Lankan Issue Will Not Affect Congress In Polls

Union Minister and senior Congress leader G K Vasan today said the centre's stand in abstaining from voting on a US resolution on alleged war crimes by Sri Lanka at the UNHRC would not affect the party in the Lok Sabha elections.

"No way the Sri Lankan issue will affect the Congress in this election," he told reporters responding to criticism of the UPA government's stand by most parties in Tamil Nadu.

He said it was the Congress-led UPA Government that had allocated crores of rupees for the rehabilitation of Sri Lankan Tamils.

The resolution, which sought an international inquiry into alleged war crimes in the last stages of the conflict with the LTTE in 2009, was adopted by 23 votes.

Noting that the Congress was contesting the April 24 Lok Sabha polls in Tamil Nadu on its own after a long gap, he said the party's chances were bright.

He said during his campaign tour of the state, he could see enthusiasm among the Congress workers.

Attacking the Jayalalithaa government, he said it was suppressing the role of the central government in various welfare schemes being implemented, Outlook India reported