The Hindu : No objection to Sonia becoming PM, says Paswan

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 22, 2004

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National

No objection to Sonia becoming PM, says Paswan

RAE BARELI, MARCH 21. The Lok Janshakti Party president, Ramvilas Paswan, today said the issue of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, raised by the BJP, was baseless and his party had no objection to her becoming Prime Minister.

Addressing mediapersons here, he said: "If a person of foreign origin can become a member of Parliament, then how can he or she be stopped from becoming the Prime Minister."

The NDA, particularly the BJP, always raised unimportant issues such as foreign origin and Ayodhya to mislead the people and divert their attention from basic issues such as poverty, unemployment and illiteracy, and the problems of the farmers and labourers, he said.

Slogans of ``feel-good'' and "India Shining" were an insult to a majority of the people not even having access to the basic amenities of life, he said while appealing to the Opposition, particularly the Congress, to issue a document exposing the failures of the NDA Government.

The LJP would contest 40 Lok Sabha seats, including 10 in Uttar Pradesh.

Talks of an alliance with the Congress were in the final stages.

The party also proposed to take out a rath yatra from Lucknow on August 23 with a view to strengthen its base in the State, he added.

UNI

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