Karad (Satara): Lashing out at critics for raising her foreign origin issue, Congress president Sonia Gandhi on October 19 said, "people were bent upon making her a butt of criticism by pointing to her foreign origin and doubting her nationality".

In a veiled reference to Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) president Sharad Pawar, Gandhi, while addressing a massive rally in Karad, said "nobody has become a nationalist just by claiming so".

"Bahut kuch karna padta hai" (much needed to be done), she said.

Criticising the Atal Behari Vajpayee government at the Centre, Gandhi said the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) coalition "would go to any extent to remain in power, since their objective was to stick to their chair at any cost".

Expressing concern on the "growing unemployment, hunger and exploitation of women" in the country, she said that because of Centre's wrong policies several co-operative factories had become sick and were on the verge of closure.

Cautioning that "some people were trying their best to break the country", Gandhi said her party would never allow the designs to succeed under any circumstances.

PTI