Congress rejects charge that Sonia Gandhi stepped in campaign after Rahul Gandhi failed

NEW DELHI: Congress today dismissed BJP's charge that Sonia Gandhi came to the fore in campaigning through her televised appeal as Rahul Gandhi has "failed" to reach out to people in Lok Sabha polls.

"I don't think it is right. The Congress President is Chairman of the Campaign Committee of the party and she is campaigning", party's Media Department chief Ajay Maken told reporters.

Sonia Gandhi had last night appealed to people to defeat "divisive and autocratic" forces which will "destroy" the Indian ethos.

The televised appeal by Sonia Gandhi evoked response from BJP PM candidate Narendra Modi as also the Leader of the opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley who claimed it reflected her realisation that her son Rahul had not delivered on the election front.

"All of a sudden, Sonia Gandhi has come to the fore to take charge of the (election) campaign. She had thought that her son would do something. But when nothing happened, what could she do? The mother herself had to come to the fore, appear on TV to deliver advertised messages to the nation," Modi said.

Jaitley took potshots at Congress over the televised messages of Sonia Gandhi, saying the party had been forced to change its principal communicator since Rahul Gandhi's speeches to the people were "not working".

Claiming that "desperation" in Congress was clear, Jaitley said speeches, interviews and press conferences of political leaders are always covered by the media and Sonia Gandhi does not have to buy television time in order to reach to the people.