Chandigarh: Hitting out at the foreign origins of Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on September 21 pooh-poohed her conduct in Parliament and urged people to ensure that she does not become the country's Prime Minister.

Addressing party workers in Chandigarh, BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan said, "Sonia Gandhi ko neta banana Congress ki majboori ho sakti hein, lekin Sonia ko pradhan mantri banana yeah desh ki majboori nahin ho sakti (It may be Congress Party's compulsion to chose her as their leader, but certainly there is no binding on people of India to make her the Prime Minister)."

Urging people not to vote for someone about whose credentials they were not aware of, Mahajan asked the workers whether they knew anything about Sonia's father, sister, brother, mother or any family member (not staying in India).

Taking a dig at Sonia for her alleged poor understanding of Indian culture and values, Mahajan said the BJP-led government was "happy" to have a person like her as the Leader of Opposition.

"She (Sonia) reads from a prepared text. Someone has to prompt her on what is going around her when she is in Parliament. You (the people) have a choice. Do you want a leader like her to lead this country or one like Vajpayee," he asked.

PTI