Cong opponents trying to grab power at any cost: Sonia

Asking partymen to gear up for the next Lok Sabha polls, Congress President Sonia Gandhi today accused its opponents of attempting to grab power at any cost and called for an aggressive response to their "false propaganda".

Noting that about 18 months were left for the next Parliamentary polls, Gandhi told a "dialogue meeeting" of top party leaders including Prime Minister Manmohan Singh here that the party should strive hard to meet the challenge.

Gandhi, who is also the UPA Chairperson, said that though "we are facing very difficult challenges", it is a fact that "we have a record of excellent achievements in the past eight years and we are proud of our commitment to the interest of the common man. This commitment is our dharma."

She said that the party-led government has changed the face of India through "unparalleled programmes and laws".

"Our detractors and the opposition are bent upon spreading disinformation on political, moral and policy issues," she said.

"We have to respond aggressively to their false propaganda. We know that in reality their intention is to grab power at any cost, notwithstanding the fact that their greed could weaken democracy, equality, sovereignty and secular values," she said.

Gandhi was addressing the day-long meeting of Congress top brass, including Cabinet ministers, Ministers of State with Independent Charge, Congress Working Committee (CWC) members and permanent invitees to CWC.

The exercise, also being attended by Rahul Gandhi, is the first of its kind with the Congress chief telling the top party brass that the interaction between the party and the government should not be limited to such meetings.