'I don't like Sonia's face,' says JD-U's Prabhunath Singh

Patna, April 12 (IANS) Raking up the issue of Congress president Sonia Gandhi's foreign origin, a senior leader of Bihar's ruling Janata Dal (United) Sunday said he disliked 'her face, voice and language' and termed her popularity and acceptance as a national leader 'unfortunate for the country'.

'I don't like her face, her voice and her language,' Prabhunath Singh, the former deputy leader of the party in the Lok Sabha, told media persons here.

'Sonia Gandhi is a foreign woman. I don't want to join issue with her during the elections. I don't think she deserves a reply,' said Singh, who was renominated from Bihar's Maharajganj constituency. Polling for the constituency will be held April 16 in the first phase of the general elections.

Singh, a politician with a criminal background who faces charges in over two dozen criminal cases that include murder, kidnapping and extortion, said it was unfortunate that a foreign woman like Sonia Gandhi was regarded as a national leader by the people. He said he had always opposed her foreign origin and would continue to do so in future.

Interestingly, leaders of the JD-U's alliance partner, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), including senior leaders L.K. Advani and Arun Jaitley, hardly touched Gandhi's foreign origin issue during their election campaign in Bihar.