Sonia talks tough, tells MPs to avoid factionalism

New Delhi, May 9 (IANS) Congress president Sonia Gandhi Wednesday asked her party MPs to avoid factionalism, fight the opposition as one "disciplined team" and speak in one voice for the achievements of the government led by her party.

"We must shed all manner of factional behaviour and fight as one disciplined team at all levels. That will be the single most important factor to decide whether we win or lose," Gandhi told a meeting of Congress MPs which was also attended by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

In her speech, the Congress president talked tough and said that people of the country were looking to the party. She asked her MPs to "show our commitment and unity if we are to convert this sentiment into electoral victories".

She asked her party leaders to "expose the opposition's double-speak and its obstructive behaviour" and "defend and project the government's achievements" as it had become "fashionable to criticise the government".

"We must speak forcefully and with confidence on what we have achieved and there is much we have to show despite difficult economic times. We must project our government's accomplishments and our ambitious legislative agenda."