Sonia trains Bofors on BJP allegations

Sonia was at her belligerent best on the matter and was not willing to take any implication lying down. She was aggressive on the topic, saying 8220;my husband was crucified8221; on the subject and no non-Congress government was able to prove anything. 8220;Let the BJP show me the papers to prove my husband was guilty. Or let him be vindicated,8221; an emotional Sonia said.

She accused the BJP-led government of failing to bring any evidence against Congress leaders on the Bofors case, whichcomes on top of her accusation in the last election campaign that Atal Behari Vajpayee was lying on the subject. 8220;BJP leaders have been claiming that they possess papers to implicate Congress leaders but so far they could not produce them.8221;

However, she evaded repeated queries on her and her family8217;s relationship with controversial Italian businessman Ottavio Quattrochi saying nothing on it and referring to Rajiv instead. She would only add that the CBI had not produced any paper so far finding him guilty in the case.

On other topics, Sonia reverted back to her cool self. Like on the issue of coalition politics. 8220;Where is the question of a coalition government. We are confident of securing an absolute majority on our own,8221; she said. And on the Prime Ministership issue.

Sonia didn8217;t bite the bait, merely saying she stuck to what she said on the matter in the last AICC session at Talkatora stadium. 8220;I have already declared that the party8217;s prime ministerial candidate will be decided by the electedmembers of the Lok Sabha. I stick to it.8221; One uncomfortable query, on her foreign origin, was also tackled lightly. 8220;There is no answer to this question. The people of India will answer this.8221;

On the Kargil issue, she felt the victory was of the Indian soldiers and not the BJP government. 8220;In a short time, they fought under difficult circumstances and won. What kind of a victory is it for the government which allows intruders into our territory. Was it sleeping,8221; she said. 8220;We will place before the people the mishandling of the Kargil issue by the Vajpayee government,8221; she added.

The only admission was the relative failure to reserve 33 per cent seats for women. 8220;It might be difficult for the party to ensure 33 per cent reservation for women in the ticket distribution during the current elections. We have already given to women 15 per cent of the tickets distributed so far. The rest may not come in this election,8221; she said adding it needed to be tackled on a long-term basis.

And her mainadversaries were clear: 8220;The BJP, of course. And all the fanatical organisations sustaining it.8221; One journalist fired in a question on why she claimed she before the President that her party had the support of 272 Lok Sabha members to form an alternative government. 8220;I am not in the habit of lying. I was under the impression that all the MPs who had voted against the Vajpayee government would support their claim to form an alternative government. But some parties like the Samajwadi Party went back on their word,8221; she added.

And yes, infighting was not a real problem as all parties 8220;suffered from the malaise8221;. 8220;You can see from the papers that all parties have this problem and the Congress is no exception,8221; she added. On the question of a dialogue with Pakistan, her party would finalise it only after consulting experts.

One bit of wit remained. One TV journalist asked how she could compromise on corruption by siding with people like ADMK chief J Jayalalitha and RJD chief Laloo Yadav. 8220;WhenJayalalitha was with the BJP she was clean. When she is with us, she is corrupt. I don8217;t understand this strange logic. You explain this to me,8221; she said.