Foreign origin a non-issue: Cong

Throwing to the wind the debate over the foreign origin of Congress president, the party today made it clear that Sonia Gandhi would be the party's candidate for Prime Minister, as a surrogate could not serve the purpose.

In a TV interview, Congress spokesman Jaipal Reddy also said the Congress was not dependent on the Sharad Pawar-led Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) as an ally, but did not rule out the possibility of an alliance with it in the next Lok Sabha polls.

By implication, Reddy's point was that the Congress would continue to tolerate the NCP's assaults on Sonia Gandhi's foreign origins.

"A person who commands popular confidence, ...has command over the party should lead the government. A surrogate does not serve the purpose," he said in response to an observation that the party might improve its standing if Sonia Gandhi were to announce her withdrawal from the Prime Ministerial race and name someone else as the Congress' candidate for PM.

Reddy asserted that the Congress would win 200 or more seats in the Lok Sabha because of a specific political strategy.

"We have a strategy in all the states where we are weak. We have a redoubtable ally in Laloo Yadav. We need to fix up our alliance in Uttar Pradesh.... We have an option with Mulayam Singh Yadav.... We have our strategy in all the states where we are weak," he said.

Besides, Reddy said the Left parties "out of their unselfish ideological commitment, made an announcement that they would consider an alliance or an alignment with the Congress in the post-poll situation".

On the economic front, Reddy said Congress was prepared to disinvest profitable public sector undertakings "provided their long term prospects were not bright".

Attempting to turn Sonia Gandhi's failure to speak spontaneously in Hindi in Parliament into a virtue, he said, "She is too correct a parliamentarian to speak in impromptu interventions.... Her interventions were well considered and.... They hit and also hurt," he said.