Cong attacks Left, projects Rahul as future leader

New Delhi, Nov 17 (UNI) Attacking the Left on Nandigram and nuclear deal issues, the AICC today subtly projected Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi as its future leader and declared its resolve to regain its past glory and form a government of its own after the next Lok Sabha elections.

Squarely blaming the West Bengal government for the violence in Nandigram, the AICC, in an omnibus resolution adopted at a day-long session here, said the Left had placed the interests of its cadres above that of the people and the state administration did not allow the law and order machinery to function professionally.

''The AICC notes with concern the grave situation in Nandigram where the writ of the state government appears to have ceased to run. The AICC condemns the culture of violence and the cult of armed cadres.'' Prime Minister Manmohan Singh was also bitterly critical of the Left, describing as ''false propaganda'' its assertion that the Indo-US nuclear deal was detrimental to national security and independent foreign policy.

External Affairs Minister Pranab Mukherjee even agreed with some Congress leaders who sought to equate the 2002 Gujarat communal violence with the Nandigram killings.

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