Tuesday, July 12 2005 19:20 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Taking strong objection to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's praise for British rule in India as "good governance", BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) today (July 12, 2005) said Congress had forgotten Mahatma Gandhi in its quest to hail its President Sonia Gandhi.

"The Congress, which had been associated with freedom struggle, is today bowing in front of foreigners," BJP spokesperson Sushma Swaraj told reporters in New Delhi.

She said the Congress, in its effort to "hail" Sonia Gandhi, has "forgotten" Mahatma Gandhi.

Swaraj, who was addressing the press after a meeting of office-bearers and senior leaders, said, "Serious objection" was expressed at the deliberations.

Singh, while receiving the Honorary Doctorate at Oxford University on last Friday (July 8, 2005), had said that even at the height of the campaign for freedom from colonial rule, "We did not entirely reject the British claim to good governance. We merely asserted our national right to self governance."