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No one in the Nehru-Gandhi family can save the Congress Party, which has not only brought ruin on itself, but also on the country, said senior BJP leader Maneka Gandhi.
Talking to Aaj Tak TV, Maneka, the wife of the late Sanjay Gandhi, the younger son of former prime minister Indira Gandhi, said the Congress Party would have to initiate an urgent exercise to overhaul itself completely to be acceptable to the people of the country again.
Referring to the huge electoral debacle in the recent assembly elections, Maneka Gandhi said the ruling party has hit an all time low, and she could not visualise it rising again, even if it announces Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate on Friday.
She asked: "The Congress Party has been projecting Rahul for the last ten years. Has it made any difference to the party's political fortunes?"
She further said that whether the party spends Rs.500 crores or Rs.5000 crores on the image building of Rahul Gandhi, it would be too late and to no effect.
"People don't want to see or hear about the Congress Party. There is absolutely no doubt in anyone's mind that Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have been running the government from the outside. The people of India are not fools or foolish. Everyone knows that Dr. Manmohan Singh is the Prime Minister, but is he actually the Prime Minister, or does he actually have the authority that goes with the office of Prime Minister," said Maneka.
"Under the Congress Party, India as a nation has been robbed and looted. Corruption has and is at its peak under the present regime. The Congress is responsible for its own ruin," she added.
When asked whether Priyanka Gandhi Vadra's glamour quotient would help in turning the Congress Party's fortunes around, Maneka Gandhi said: " I don't think so."
She also said that there can be no comparison between the BJP's prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi and Rahul Gandhi.
"One is a tiger (Modi). The other is a bird (Rahul Gandhi)," said Maneka Gandhi.
"Earlier, if a king touched something, it would turn into gold. Now, there is nobody in Congress like that," she said.
Taking on Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal, the BJP MP said the Aam Aadmi Party has fooled the people on the promise of water and electricity.
