23 Mar : Congress President Sonia Gandhi on Monday had a dig at the Third Front, expressing doubt over its longevity and taunted the grouping for having as many Prime Ministerial aspirants as the number of parties in it.
In her first comments on the Front, she said there is talk of a new alliance and discussion on parties constituting it."Who knows when, who and where and along with whom they will remain", she told a rally at Davanagere in Karnataka nearly two weeks after the the Third Front was launched in Tumkur, also in Karnataka, on 12th March.
"There are as many prime ministers (aspirants) as the number of parties in it", Gandhi said indicating that the nation cannot progress under such a dispensation.
For political stability, the country needed a strong, far-sighted and experienced government with an able and honest leadership, she said.Gandhi said some people are jealous of Indian progress and different types of hurdles are being placed on its path of development and "terrorism is such an attempt. It is a challenge".
"But we are not like BJP or BJP people who took terrorists lodged in our jails like guests to Afghanistan", the Congress President said referring to Kandahar hijack episode in which the then union minister Jaswant Singh had accompanied terrorists in exchange for release of hostages.She said she would like to instill trust in people that the government is fully capable of fighting terror.