PM is 'Sher-e-Punjab': Rahul

Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janta Party (BJP) for describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a weak Prime Minister (PM), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi today said the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) candidate for the top post is “Sher-e-Punjab” (Lion of Punjab) and the “pride of India”.

This was addressed to a gathering here to muster support for Congress candidate Raninder Singh, who is also the son of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Criticising senior BJP leader LK Advani, Rahul said when Singh took a stand against terrorism, the saffron party’s prime ministerial candidate gave in to the demands of terrorists during Kandahar hijacking incidence.

Dismissing Advani’s claim that he was not aware of the release of terrorists when Kandahar happened, the All India Congress Committee (AICC) general secretary said, “Advani is not speaking the truth”. Listing out the achievements of the UPA government, Rahul said many schemes were launched for the poor and the loans of farmers were also waived off.

Striking a chord with the youth, he said he was trying to take the Youth Congress and National Student Union of India (NSUI) ahead. “We took a historic decision to hold elections for the president of the Youth Congress,” he said, adding that the party had nominated five young candidates out of 13 in Punjab.