New Delhi: Congress President Sonia Gandhi will host a farewell dinner on Wednesday for Prime Minister Manmohan Singh who demits his office on May 17. Sonia has asked Congress leaders to defend the Prime Minister.
In a meeting with the party leaders, Sonia said even if the results were poor, they should not put the blame on Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. The remarks came in the backdrop of the post-poll surveys projecting worst ever performance by the Congress and best ever performance by the Bharatiya Janata Party.
Meanwhile, sources also say that the Congress will try to deflect all blame from party Vice President Rahul Gandhi as well. But the PM's former media advisor Sanjaya Baru has said that elections 2014 were fought between Rahul and Modi and the responsibility for any failure should lie with the Congress Vice President and not the Prime Minister.
The Congress also underlined that Singh had led the country through difficult times and hailed his "able stewardship". "Singh's experienced and seasoned stewardship, his personal integrity and ability to lead the country through difficult times is noteworthy and India is proud to have earned so many laurels and respect during the ten years", party spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi said.
He said that the party deeply appreciated the "able stewardship" of Singh during UPA-I and UPA-II "when we have carved out a trajectory and a path of clear inclusive growth, stability and social harmony in the country".
Expressing gratitude and heartfelt thanks to the Prime Minister and his team, he wished him good health and happiness. The AICC's praise of the Prime Minister came on the eve of a farewell dinner for him hosted by Sonia Gandhi, just three days before the announcement of results of Lok Sabha elections.
Singh had earlier this year announced his retirement. Congress leaders had always spoken of the relationship between the Prime Minister and Sonia Gandhi as an ideal division of labour, which saw perfect harmonisation between the government and the party. The AICC has always maintained that there cannot be any better relationship between a party president and a Prime Minister and had often dismissed as "rumours and disinformation" reports of differences between the two.
(With additional information from PTI)
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