New Delhi, Oct 17: Several Senior congress leaders today assailed BJP leader Pramod Mahajan's remark that Congress president Sonia Gandhi was not fit to occupy the post of prime minister because of her foreign origin and said if he has the courage he should answer the questions posed by Congress chief at a rally in Jaipur yesterday. "We are amazed at the speech delivered by Mahajan at Patna yesterday in which he has once again attacked our leader Sonia Gandhi on the basis of her foreign origin and has said that she is not fit to occupy the office of the prime minister of India....If, Mahajan has the courage of his conviction let him answer Gandhi's questions posed in the public rally at Jaipur on October 16 with great anguish," they said in a joint statement.

The signatories to the statement includes Arjun Singh, Natwar Singh, R K Dhawan, L P Shahi, M L Fotedar and Delhi Chief Minister Shiela Dixit.

"Gandhi has been elected Member of Parliament twice in her own right as a citizen of this country. This means that for the people of India, the issue of her foreign origin has no meaning and that they are reposing faith in her, in her personal capacity and as the leader of the Congress Party," they said.

Bureau Report