Silchar (Assam): Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Venkaiah Naidu today (Apr 10, 2004) said hat the people of the country wanted their Prime Minister to be an Indian citizen and blamed the Congress for insurgent problems in Kashmir, Punjab and Assam.

Without making any direct reference to Congress president Sonia Gandhi, Naidu told poll campaign rallies in Silchar and Karimganj, "Indian people want their Prime Minister to be an Indian citizen irrespective of religion and language."

Elections 2004-The Drama unfolds...

He alleged that in the last 50 years, the Congress had not properly addressed the country's problems, which in turn gave rise to militancy in Kashmir, Punjab and Assam.

Asserting that today's Congress was not the original one of Mahatma Gandhi, Netaji and Vallabbhai Patel, Naidu said, "This Congress is Congress-I".

Exuding confidence that his party would win minimum 270 Lok Sabha seats in the coming elections with the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) getting two-third majority, the BJP supremo said the Opposition Congress would be confined to a two digit figure below 100.

Alleging the Congress "has no self-confidence", he said, "Ultimately the coming election will be a one sided affair. Congress failed to forge concrete alliance with any political party. If they made an alliance with NCP (Nationalist Congress Party) in Maharashtra, they led to the break up of that party in Meghalaya."

Stating the only poll issue before his party was all round development of the country, the BJP president said, "BJP's five years was the minimum time for repairing the 50 years of Congress destruction".