Congress projects Manmohan Singh as its PM candidate in the forthcoming LokSabha Election. Sonia Gandhi released the Party’s manifesto on Tuesday and ruled out the possibility of her becoming the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate and said she will continue to stick to the position in 2004, when she refused to become the PM, despite of being elected Parliamentary party leader of the Congress. “I had made my position (on the issue of PM’s post) very clear in 2004 and there is no change in that position even now,” Sonia cleared her stand.

Regarding Manmohan Singh, Gandhi told “There can be many candidates for the post of prime minister but nobody stands in front of Manmohan Singh. He has both experience and competence”.

Answering a question, Sonia told that at present she can’t comment whether congress will take the support of Left parties after the elections, and that the issue would be decided after the poll outcome. To a query if the UPA was now in disarray in the Hindi belt, she said her party has decided to fight the coming Lok Sabha elections alone in some states and in some others such as West Bengal, it was contesting in a pre-poll alliance with Mamata Banerjee’s Trinamool Congress.

She expressed the hope that the people would vote for the Congress keeping in mind the achievements of the UPA government in the last five years and the party will take measures for maintaining economic growth and will protect farmers from the impact of economic slowdown.
It would extend interest relief to farmers and build on the national job guarantee scheme, both seen as potential vote winners in the general election to be held next month.

After releasing the manifesto, Manmohan Singh criticized BJP and its prime ministerial candidate L K Advani.  “When I look at the record of Mr Advani, all I can discover is the prominent role he played in the destruction of Babri Masjid. What else has he done, what else has he done afterwards as a politician for national welfare? We know for example that when he was the Home Minister the attack on parliament took place. He was the Home Minister who presided over the massacre that took place in Gujarat. The country must reflect whether this is the person fit to hold the office of the Prime Minister,” the PM said.

He called BJP’s endorsement of Varun Gandhi’s hate speech shameful and also condemned his inflammatory remarks.