Don’t greet me, it’s the PM’s success: Sonia

NEW DELHI: The Congress was in a celebratory mood on Sunday giving credit to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for the victory at NSG and for domestic political gains from the nuclear deal. The party���s biggest vote catcher, Sonia Gandhi, had the spotlight turned firmly on Mr Singh, leading a delegation of Congress leaders to congratulate him on Sunday morning.

But if Ms Gandhi decided to bask in the glory of the PM���s greatness, then it was Mr Singh himself who told the delegation that India���s success at NSG could not have been possible without the Congress president���s backing and her leadership which inspired ���strength and courage���, according to sources.

Ms Gandhi had, in a statement on Saturday night, congratulated the PM for his conviction and commitment to pursue India���s integration with the global nuclear mainstream. She had termed the waiver as a ���historic moment��� talking of the end of ���three decades of isolation���. She had also praised the ���enormous efforts and skilful negotiations��� of Indian diplomats and nuclear scientists.

A number of Congress Working Committee (CWC) members and senior leaders such as Margaret Alva, Janardan Dwivedi, Satyavrat Chaturvedi, Prithviraj Chavan, Mukul Wasnik, Ambika Soni and others met Ms Gandhi at her residence on Sunday morning. ���We went to congratulate her for her leadership for such a big victory for India and for the UPA government. But she said the real person to be congratulated was the PM and his team,��� said a Congress leader who was part of the delegation. The Congress team, led by Ms Gandhi, then went to meet the PM.

The party will be celebrating the NSG waiver and the N-deal at an extended meeting of the CWC on September 13. However, a bigger function is not yet ruled out. ���It (the NSG waiver) cannot be dismissed. It is certainly not a small success. The party must organise something to mark the occasion,��� a senior leader said.