ONBOARD AIR INDIA ONE — Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Friday said that there were no differences between himself and Congress party president Sonia Gandhi. Speaking onboard his Air India One, his special aircraft, on his way back home after state visits to Japan and Thailand, the prime minister said: “There are no differences between me and the Congress president. I consult her on all issues that require consultations.” In recent times, the Congress has dismissed suggestions of a disconnect between Singh and Sonia, and reports that the prime minister was sulking after he was forced to dump his ‘favorite ministers' Ashwani Kumar and Pawan Kumar Bansal. The party also said that the reports about differences between Singh and Sonia were rumors and disinformation, and maintained that Singh would remain in office until 2014. Even when the UPA-2 had presented its report card on May 22, Sonia scotched all rumors of an alleged rift with the prime minister. She said that she and the Congress party fully backed Prime Minister Singh and his government's policies, and there was no room for anybody to say otherwise. In fact, it was emphasized that both the Congress and the Prime Minister's Office have acted in tandem to dismiss such rumors, which have been surfacing from time to time. The Congress party's media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi recently told media persons that both the Congress president and the prime minister shared a perfect relationship. “There cannot be any better relationship between a party president and a prime minister,” he said, adding that the “reports about differences between PM and Sonia Gandhi are rumors and disinformation, and Congress condemns it.” AICC general secretary Digvijay Singh, who had recently stirred the controversy over dual power center, on Monday said that there was no disconnect between Sonia Gandhi and the prime minister. Targeting the opposition parties led by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for their obstructive form of politics, which has prevented the government from passing crucial laws for the overall benefit of the people of India, Singh said that he did not agree with the view that there was a disconnect between UPA-1 and UPA-2 regimes. — Agencies
