Barnala, Punjab: Praising Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that not only is Singh the party's candidate for this election, but also for the next.
"Manmohan Singh is not only the prime ministerial candidate the second time, but will also be for the third time," Gandhi said addressing a rally at Barnala in favour of Congress nominee Vijay Inder Singla.
Showering praises on Singh, Gandhi said that he has closely watched the Prime Minister's performance for the last five years and observed his competency as that of rare among the rarest.
"Manmohan not only brought glory to the name of Punjab but also to that of the entire country due to his farsightedness," he said.
In a hard hitting attack on Prime Ministerial candidate L K Advani for terming Manmohan as a "weak" Prime Minister, Gandhi said that "our Prime Minister never succumbed to terrorism as Advani's cabinet colleague did, escorting three top terrorists for their safe passage."
"Now, Advani is making lame excuses that it was not in his notice but in the notice of then Prime Minister A B Vajpayee, who is unable to speak following his illness," he said.