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Throwing her weight firmly behind Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi on Monday dismissed the allegations leveled against him as “baseless”, and “part of a conspiracy”. Speaking at the opening session of the Congress Working Committee (CWC) meet here on Monday, Gandhi was unsparing in her rebuttal. “Opposition and some other anti-Congress forces are making false allegations against the Prime Minister. We will have to fight fiercely against such allegations which are part of a conspiracy,” she said. The Congress chief further accused the non-Congress governments of non-cooperation. "The economic problems affecting aam admi (common man) are a challenge before us. Non-Congress governments are not cooperating in policies and programmes formulated by the Centre,” Gandhi said. She asked her party colleagues to stay united. “We have to strengthen our organisation for the coming elections in Lok Sabha and many other states. And for this, the most important thing is that we all work unitedly," she said. In an oblique reference to the petrol price hike, she acknowledged the economic challenges impacting the common man. "The whole world is passing through a difficult phase and we have to face it and we are facing it". Mired by soaring fuel and food inflation and a relentless offensive by Team Anna and yoga guru Baba Ramdev, the CWC meet was expected to focus heavily on dissent brewing within the United Progressive Alliance’s (UPA) ranks. The CWC meet was the first after the Congress’ debacle in Assembly polls.

Sonia backs Manmohan Singh, calls accusations baseless