Date:29/01/2004 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2004/01/29/stories/2004012907191100.htm

National

Mahajan stands by remarks on Priyanka, Rahul

By Prafulla Das

BHUBANESWAR, JAN. 28. The Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, today said that he did not regret his remarks about Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi, son and daughter of the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, in Kolkata three days ago.

``I am of the firm opinion that it is a matter of national pride that the Prime Minister of the country should be 100 per cent of Indian origin,'' Mr. Mahajan said at a press conference here. ``I don't mind anybody calling me pervert,'' he said in response to the Congress spokesman, Anand Sharma's reaction to his statement.

Mr. Mahajan had said in Kolkata on Monday that prime ministership should be open only to those born of Indian parents. Mr. Sharma had reacted in New Delhi yesterday, saying that the BJP leader's words reflected a perverted mindset.

Mr. Mahajan clarified that what he had said in Kolkata were his views as an individual and not his party's stand. ``We had said in our manifesto in 1999 that the highest posts must be held only by people of Indian origin. But what I said in Kolkata has not been discussed in the party.''

He said that the so-called magic of the Gandhi-Nehru family making the Congress victorious in elections had no relevance in today's India. The ``dynastic formula'' of the Congress had been rejected by the people in four elections — 1989, 1991, 1998 and 1999. ``The present day India was different, where at least five crore people were born and had become voters after Indira Gandhi's victory in the 1984 general elections.''

Mr. Mahajan said that the BJP would fight the Lok Sabha elections on three primary issues — the Prime Minister, Atal Bihari Vajpayee's leadership, stability and the performance of the NDA Government.