<i>Indira Gandhi was my idol, says Priyanka</i>

Indian supporters of Congress party and Trinamool Congress (TMC) take part in a joint election campaign rally for TMC-supported Congress party candidate Dawa Narbula for the Darjeeling constituency in Naxalbari village, some 25 km from Siliguri on Sunday. Photo: AFP

Priyanka Gandhi Monday said her grandmother and late prime minister Indira Gandhi was her 'idol' and also underlined that staying away from active politics was her own decision.
"She was absolutely my idol at that time," Priyanka Gandhi, who is often compared with her grandmother, said here when asked what memories she had of Indira Gandhi as a child.
Priyanka Gandhi also added though people remember Indira Gandhi as a tough leader, for her and her brother she was a 'gentle and sweet' grandmother.
"People I suppose remember her as tough but for her grandchildren she was the gentlest and sweetest grandmother," Priyanka Gandhi fondly told English news channel Times Now. She was in Amethi constituency to campaign for her brother and Congress candidate Rahul Gandhi.
She also said her family was not responsible for keeping her away from active politics.
"It does not come from within. It is absolutely nothing else. My family will fully support me if this is what I want to do, but I simply do not want to," Priyanka Gandhi said.
About her brother not accepting a post in Prime minister Manmohan Singh's cabinet, she said: 'That's really up to him. What he has been doing is extremely important. He has been trying to foster democracy in the Youth Congress and it is extremely important to do what he feels will strengthen the party,' Gandhi added.