BJP not to take up Sonia's foreign origin issue

The issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi appears no longer important for the BJP working out strategies for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

The issue of foreign origin of Sonia Gandhi appears no longer important for the BJP working out strategies for the coming Lok Sabha elections.

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"Those who had raised the issue were now keeping mum, so why should we take (it) up again," party Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters on the eve of the crucial three-day conclave of the party here.

His remark was an obvious dig at NCP chief Sharad Pawar who parted ways with the Congress on the issue of the Congress president's foreign origin, but later tied up with the grand old party both at the Centre and in Maharashtra.

After the 2004 elections, the BJP had staunchly opposed to Gandhi being made the Prime Minister while the Congress President had staged the 'renunciation act' by nominating Manmohan Singh for the top executive post in the country.