New Delhi: "Sonia Gandhi is my leader. I would hate to be a substitute for Mrs Gandhi. Nobody can be a substitute for Sonia Gandhi," Dr Manmohan Singh said after being chosen by the party tonight (May 19, 2004) to become the country's next Prime Minister.

Speaking at the Congress Parliamentary Party (CPP) meeting in the Central Hall of Parliament, he said, "The rare example of sacrifice set by Gandhi was in keeping with the highest standards of idealism that was generated during the freedom struggle."

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"If I say thank you Madam, it will never be enough ...(I) need an adequate expression of my gratefulness," Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy quoted Singh as saying.

Singh said he would "exert my utmost to live up to the great trust reposed in me" by Gandhi.

Referring to Rajiv Gandhi's vision of making India a major global power in the 21st century, he said Congress could be legitimately proud of the "historic achievements" during the regimes of Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.