Sonia not aware of poll schedule announcement

NEW DELHI, JULY 11: Congress President Sonia Gandhi was apparently unaware of the announcement of the schedule for Lok Sabha elections by the Election Commission this afternoon though she said her party was ready to face the elections.

“When!” she exclaimed when reporters asked for her reaction on the poll schedule soon after she came out of a meeting of Leaders of Opposition parties convened by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee on the Kargil issue.

She, however, gathered her wits and said “we are ready to face the polls.”

Asked if the Congress would make Kargil an election issue, she said “They (BJP) are planning to do so but they are accusing us,” she said, adding BJP president Kushabhau Thakre had indicated that his party would make it an issue. “We have been feeling that an atmosphere of intimidation has been built to prevent us from speaking out (on Kargil),” she said.