145;Priyanka, Rahul Cong members146;

A day after declaring that Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi were members of the Congress 8216;8216;by birth8217;8217;, the party today clarifie...

A day after declaring that Priyanka and Rahul Gandhi were members of the Congress 8216;8216;by birth8217;8217;, the party today clarified that they were also 8216;8216;primary members8217;8217; of the Indian National Congress as they subscribed to its ideology and rules guiding membership.

In reply to a question this evening, Congress spokesman Anand Sharma asserted that the Gandhi siblings were an 8216;8216;integral part8217;8217; of the Congress from a 8216;8216;historical8217;8217; and 8216;8216;emotional8217;8217; perspective. But they also fulfilled the 8216;8216;technical dimension8217;8217; of being primary members of the party.

He refused to say when they applied for and received primary membership. Asked when they would become 8216;8216;active8217;8217; members, Sharma gave the stock reply: 8216;8216;That is for them to decide.8217;8217;

Sharma also launched an aggressive counter-offensive to the BJP8217;s charge of dynastic rule and said: 8216;8216;I challenge the BJP8217;s collective leadership to name one leader who participated and made sacrifices during India8217;s freedom struggle. Let them name one family belonging to the Sangh Parivar which has served the nation for even two generations.8217;8217;

In contrast, the Nehru-Gandhi family had been in the forefront of the freedom movement and four generations had served the nation, with two of them sacrificing their lives for the nation, he said. He dismissed the BJP8217;s criticism of Rahul and Priyanka8217;s recent campaign in Amethi and Rae Bareli as a 8216;8216;panic8217;8217; reaction.

8216;8216;Almost 13 years after Rajiv Gandhi8217;s assassination and two decades after their illustrious grandmother8217;s assassination, a mere tour of Rahul and Priyanka has unnerved the BJP,8217;8217; he said.

While reiterating that the two were an 8216;8216;integral part8217;8217; of the Congress because of their ancestry and that they were the 8216;8216;fifth generation8217;8217; of the family to step out to 8216;8216;serve the nation8217;8217;, Sharma tried to distance himself from Abhishek Singhvi8217;s comment that they were members by birth.

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Sharma said membership was not given on heredity but in accordance with criteria. Rahul and Priyanka had become primary members because they fulfilled the criteria of subscribing to the party8217;s ideology.

Sources indicated the two had become primary members 8216;8216;very recently8217;8217; but denied that 8216;8216;recently8217;8217; meant as early as this morning following Singhvi8217;s revelation yesterday that they were 8216;8216;born to the party8217;8217; but were not party members.

The fact that they chose to become members very recently has heightened hopes in the Congress that they will plunge into active politics this year. Their 8216;8216;impeccable8217;8217; bloodline will dilute the BJP8217;s 8216;8216;videshi bahu8217;8217; campaign against Sonia Gandhi considerably, Congressmen feel.