PUNE, 20 March 2005 — Prime Minister Manmohan Singh described brain drain as the country’s biggest challenge that ought to be contained to prevent talented Indians from going abroad to prove their mettle.

The premier called for creating a proactive policy so that bright Indian youths did not have to leave the country to prove that they were “second to none.” Gone are the days when Indians suffered from an inferiority complex and thought they were not capable of competing with the best in the world, he said while addressing a meeting in Pune during a brief visit.

Describing Pune as the city of the 21st century, Manmohan said his government will consider helping the city build its proposed international airport and implement a slum development project. “There is absolutely no doubt that Pune is the city of the 21st century. This is the intellectual capital of India, and its contribution is great. I’m with Pune all the way, and the city is in need of urgent infrastructure development, especially railways, telecom and airports. I promise all assistance for the Pune international airport,” the prime minister said.

At a Congress party meeting later on Friday, Manmohan appealed to party workers to strengthen Congress and help it take the country to greater heights of glory. “The country became weak when Congress was weak, and the country has become strong when the party is strong,” he said of the main party that rules India

The party meeting became an embarrassment to the prime minister when the high-profile party treasurer and city member of Parliament Suresh Kalmadi launched a tirade against the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP), indicating a widening rift between the two coalition partners in Maharashtra.

Kalmadi accused the NCP of pursuing a one-point agenda of destroying Congress. “The NCP appears more happy to be in coalition with the BJP than with Congress” Kalmadi said. Quoting a line from Rabindranath Tagore’s poem ‘Ekla Chalo Re’ (Let’s Go It Alone), Kalmadi sought the prime minister’s support to fight all future elections alone, without the NCP.

Manmohan did not respond to Kalmadi’s outburst. In a conciliatory note, Congress General Secretary for Maharashtra, Margaret Alva, said differences do crop up between allies. The need of the hour was to think dispassionately and bring the allies together.