Congress afraid of declaring PM candidate, says BJP

The Congress has not named a prime ministerial candidate because it fears losing the coming Lok Sabha election, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Sushma Swaraj said Sunday.

"We have declared that we will be fighting the election under the leadership of (Narendra) Modiji as he is our PM candidate.

"But the Congress is avoiding naming their candidate because it fears losing the election," Sushma Swaraj told the party's national council on the final day of a leadership meeting.
The Congress has said that its vice president Rahul Gandhi won't be the prime ministerial candidate but lead the party's election campaign in the Lok Sabha election.

Sushma Swaraj wanted to know why Prime Minister Manmohan Singh batted for Rahul Gandhi as a good national leader if the Congress did not believe in naming a prime ministerial candidate.

She accused the Congress-led United Progressive Alliance government of blaming the opposition for its failures.

Referring to the Lokpal bill, she said it was introduced and passed in parliament only because of the BJP's pressure and support.

"As far as the Lokpal bill is concerned, you (government) were not interested in passing it. It was the BJP which demanded that the bill be presented in both houses. It was because of the BJP pressure that it was passed."

Sushma Swaraj also attacked Congress president Sonia Gandhi.

"Soniaji has said that her government has done very good work and no previous government has been able to match their performance.

"By saying this, you have challenged the governance provided by your father-in-law (Jawaharlal Nehru), mother-in-law (Indira Gandhi) and husband (Rajiv Gandhi).

"In reality it is you (Gandhi) who is running this government. Therefore you are desperate to pat your own back," she said.