Maneka Gandhi describes nephew as bird to Modi’s tiger
NEW DELHI: Ahead of the crucial AICC session on Friday, Union minister Oscar Fernandes said Rahul Gandhi is the Congress candidate for Prime Minister even as suspense remains on whether the party will formally anoint him as PM nominee for the Lok Sabha polls.
“Whether he (Rahul) accepts or not, he is our prime ministerial candidate. He will certainly accept (the responsibility), this is my opinion,” the road transport minister told reporters.
“Wait till tomorrow,” Fernandes said when asked whether the announcement of Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the top post will be made on Friday.
He also said that there is no difference of opinion among senior party leaders on it. “No, no differences… we all are very happy.”
To a specific question as to how his name can be formally announced as the party’s PM candidate amid different opinions in Congress on it, Fernades, who has held key positions in the party organization, insisted, “It has to be done.”
The remarks of the senior party leader are significant as they come on a day when Congress working committee is meeting to take a final view on the issue ahead of the AICC meeting.
In last few days, there have been contradictory signals from the party with some leaders indicating that he should be named the PM candidate before the polls while few others advocating a word of caution on it.
Union minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also hoped that such an announcement could be made at the AICC meeting.
Rahul has all qualities to become PM: Lalu
Meanwhile, in Patna Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad said Rahul Gandhi has all the credentials for becoming the country’s prime minister and would prove much better than ‘communal’ Narendra Modi.
“Does he lack any quality to become Prime Minister? He has all the qualities for the high post,” Prasad told reporters here.
“Has he instigated any communal riot or indulged in crime against any community?” the RJD chief asked rating Gandhi higher than the BJP’s prime ministerial nominee, Modi. Prasad, who has been rooting for a tie up with Congress in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections said he might be dubbed a ‘sycophant’ for praising Gandhi but it is a “fact” that Gandhi is “Prime Minister material”.
However, Yadav’s praise was not shared by BJP MP Maneka Gandhi, who hit out at her estranged family and said Rahul Gandhi was no match for Modi.
Speaking on a new channel, she termed Rahul Gandhi a bird as compared to Modi, whom she described as a tiger.
The wife of the late Sanjay Gandhi said that even though Manmohan Singh was the Prime Minister, the country has been run by Rahul and Sonia Gandhi for the last 10 years.
She also attacked Priyanka Gandhi, saying her glamour would not work in the upcoming general elections. (PTI)