PM is not weak, he is Sher-e-Punjab: Rahul

Lashing out at the Bharatiya Janata Party for describing Prime Minister Manmohan Singh as a weak PM, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said on Tuesday that the United Progressive Alliance candidate for the top post is Sher-e-Punjab (Lion of Punjab) and the "pride of India".

"The Prime Minister is not a weak candidate. He is Sher-e-Punjab and the pride of India," Rahul said in his brief address to a gathering in Bathinda to muster support for Congress candidate Raninder Singh, who is also the son of former Punjab Chief Minister Amarinder Singh.

Criticising senior BJP leader L K Advani, Rahul said whereas Singh took a stand against terrorism, the saffron party's prime ministerial candidate gave in to the demands of terrorists during Kandahar hijacking incident.

Dismissing Advani's claim that he was not aware of release of terrorists when Kandhar happened, the All India Congress Committee general secretary said "Advani is not speaking the truth". Listing out the achievements of the UPA government, Rahul said many schemes were launched for the poor and the loans of farmers were also waived off.

Striking a chord with the youth, he said he was trying to take the Youth Congress and National Student Union of India ahead. "We took a historic decision to hold elections for the president of youth Congress," he said, adding the party had nominated five young candidates out of 13 in Punjab.