Being PM is Rahul's own decision: Sonia

Badaun (Uttar Pradesh): In her first-ever comment on the sensitive issue of the Prime Minister post for her son Rahul Gandhi, Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Saturday said this would be his own personal decision.

''It is up to Rahul whether he desires to go for the post of the PM or not,'' Ms Gandhi said in an election meeting in favour of party's Badaun Lok Sabha seat candidate Saleem Iqbal Sherwani.

The participation in the Prime Ministerial race would be his own personal decision, she added.

The talks for candidature of Rahul Gandhi, the party nominee from Amethi Parliamentary constituency, had been raked up earlier too, when his sister Priyanka Gandhi Vadra had expressed her desire to see her brother as the PM as well as a groom.

Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, while canvassing for Rahul Gandhi, had said he was capable enough to hold the post.

Even, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh had said Rahul Gandhi possessed all the qualities of being the PM. The Congress youth leader had, however, said Dr Singh would continue to be the Congress candidate for the post.

In her speech, the Congress chief also chided the Mayawati-led government in Uttar Pradesh for amassing funds. ''She is not a 'Dalit ki beti' but a 'daulat ki beti' (she is not the daughter of a Dalit, but daughter of money),'' Sonia Gandhi charged.

The BSP President was only befooling the Dalits by indulging in politics and not doing anything for their upliftment, Sonia Gandhi alleged.

Mayawati never utilised the funds granted by the Centre for the development of UP in the right direction, Sonia Gandhi reiterated.

Also lambasting the BJP for indulging in communalism, she said the saffron party was dividing people on caste and religion grounds and giving birth to gaps between them.

Claiming that the Congress never tried to bring differences, she said Dr Singh was a strong PM, who always worked for the welfare of the nation and the masses.

It was only the Congress that protected the nation from the clutches of economic meltdown. The party even never lagged behind in tackling terrorism, the Congress President claimed.