Manmohan PM candidate, says Sonia

Advani led communal forces ...is an opportunist, says Manmohan.

The oft-repeated question was asked again: “Many of your leaders feel Rahul Gandhi can become the prime minister. Will he be the prime minister after the 2009 election?”

Picking up the party’s election manifesto, Sonia Gandhi’s left hand covered her own picture on the cover and positioned it to the media. “Can you see this? Tell me, can you see this?” Gandhi asked, highlighting Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s smiling face on the cover.

With one sentence and a smile, breaking away from a long tradition, Sonia Gandhi announced Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as the party’s candidate for the 2009 Lok Sabha elections.

In the history of the Congress, this is the first time a non-Nehru-Gandhi surname has been projected as its prime minister candidate before elections.

The Congress had already given enough hints earlier that Singh would be the party’s PM candidate, but today Gandhi spelt it out clearly. “There are many people who want to become prime minister. But no one can match Dr Manmohan Singh,” she said.

While his leader reposed her full faith in him, Manmohan Singh too showed that though the recent surgery might have slowed down his pace a bit, his political acumen had sharpened with time.

Launching a never-before attack on the BJP’s prime ministerial aspirant LK Advani, Singh said, “Whether I am a weak prime minister or a strong prime minister …actions of my government speak for themselves. I know Lal Krishna Advani often says this. But when I look back, I see that the only prominent role he has ever played was the destruction of Babri mosque.

What else has he done for this country? During his tenure as the Union home minister, Red Fort and Parliament were attacked. Troops were mobilised at the border for 12 months and then withdrawn. He presided over the massacre of Gujarat.”

As Gandhi and other Congress leaders applauded Singh, the PM carried on: “In this country, Advani led the communal forces. But he is an opportunist person. When he crossed the border, he discovered secular virtues in Mohammad Ali Jinnah. Let the history decide if Advani is weak or strong.”

In his new found political energy, Singh also aggressively rejected the idea of contesting from a Lok Sabha seat. “The Constitution of India is very clear on this issue. Earlier too, there have been PMs from the Rajya Sabha. Advani may change the constitution later if he comes to power, but as of now, he is wrong (to say that the PM should come through the Lok Sabha).”

This was Singh’s first political programme in the party office. Initially, the press was only putting questions to Sonia Gandhi, prompting the Congress president to convey her message that the PM should also be asked some questions. After that, whenever Singh got the chance to speak, he did not miss an opportunity to hit out.