Varun attacks Sonia on foreign origin issue

MANDATE 2004

Varun Gandhi, son of Maneka Gandhi, launched a scathing attack on Congress chief Sonia Gandhi yesterday.

Addressing a gathering at Udhna Darwaza here, Varun urged people to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), under whose rule in the past five years, India had taken giant strides on the path of development. He attributed the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government's success to the able leadership of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

The fourth generation of Nehru-Gandhi family, who joined the BJP recently along with his mother, said the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls were not a fight between individuals or political parties, but a contest between ideological differences of the BJP and the Congress. While the BJP had strengthened over the past few years, the Congress was moving towards extinction, he said.

Attacking his aunt, Congress president Sonia Gandhi, over her foreign origin, Varun said no one in this country wanted a foreigner to be their leader. There would be hardly anyone who thought that the Congress chief was fit enough to be the Prime Minister, Varun said.

He, however, quickly added that he was not in favour of personalised attack against any individual. He expressed displeasure at Chief Minister Narendra Modi's remarks against Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi.

Quoting a survey conducted in Nadiad town, Modi had said Gandhi and her son were found unfit even for the job of a clerk and driver. Varun called upon political leaders to refrain from making personalised attacks.

Varun, who is on a two-day tour of south Gujarat, addressed a series of public meetings in Valsad, Daman, Silvassa and Surat yesterday.

He also criticised the Congress for promoting dynastic rule. He said there were Congress workers who were with the party since years, but were still workers.

On the other hand, there were several others, who had risen to the celebrity status just on account of their relations to some or the other party bigwig.

At the end, Varun again appealed people to vote for the BJP so that the dream of making India a developed nation could be fulfilled.

The meeting was attended by Union Rural Development Minister Kashiram Rana, Gujarat Water Resources Minister Narottam Patel, Surat City BJP chief Kishore Vankawala and Surat Mayor Snehlata Chauhan.