The Hindu : Front Page : Congress stands by Sonia’s comment

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Sunday, Dec 09, 2007
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Congress stands by Sonia’s comment

Special Correspondent

“What she said has been seen.”

What Singhvi was saying was the “AICC stand”
“We leave it to the people of India to judge Mr. Modi”

NEW DELHI: The Congress on Saturday asserted that the party stood by its president Sonia Gandhi’s “merchants of death” comment.

“We reiterate and stand by the statement made from the All-India Congress Committee in respect of the description of Mr. Modi. The description is not just apposite, it is mild,” party spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said here at a press conference.

Asked categorically if Ms. Gandhi referred to Mr. Narendra Modi as “maut ka saudagar” (merchant of death) at a rally in Gujarat, Mr Singhvi said: “What she said has been seen, heard and read by everybody.”

On Friday, senior party leader Kapil Sibal had said that Ms. Gandhi had not named any individual and in fact referred to functionaries in the Modi government.

Asked about this, Mr. Singhvi refused to comment but emphasised that what he was saying was the “AICC stand.”

He said that in the light of Mr. Modi’s acts of omission and commission and utterances over several years, his “confessional statement” a few days ago, the Gujarat government’s written affidavit in the Supreme Court, we leave it to the people of India to judge “Mr. Modi, his character and his government.”

Easy to mislead

He said it was easy to mislead if one ran away from facts and figures: Gujarat under Mr. Modi for several years has experienced abysmal economic growth on several parameters.

He asked why the Gujarat Chief Minister created a special district for tribals on the eve of elections and not during seven years of his rule?

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