New Delhi: Congress president Sonia Gandhi today (Feb 28, 2004) said Varun and Maneka Gandhi joining Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was "painful" as the Nehru-Gandhi family had always fought against communalism.

"In some ways certainly it is painful. Freedom movement strategy was planned in this house (Anand Bhavan in Allahabad). The persons born in this house were stalwarts of the freedom movement...fight against communal forces was very much part (of their struggle)," she said in an interview on the "Walk the Talk" programme of NDTV.

She declined to comment when asked whether the action of Varun and Maneka was betrayal of the legacy of the Nehru-Gandhi family.

Asked whether she would have felt less hurt if they had joined any party other than the BJP, she said, "Well obviously...I don't want to go beyond that."

On Varun entering politics, she said, "He is a young man who has embarked on a new political career and I wish him well."