New Delhi: Finance Minister Jaswant Singh has rejected criticism that BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) was "marketing" Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a brand saying the country has adopted him as a symbol of progress.

"We are not marketing Vajpayee as a brand. The country has adopted him as a symbol of progress and economic development," he said when asked about criticism that the party was excessively dependent on Vajpayee's image.

To a question about the Congress demand that Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani should retire, he dismissed it with contempt saying, "Congress can say all kinds of things."