Reiterating his commitment and loyalty to the Gandhi family and the Congress party, Human Resources Development Minister Arjun Singh on Wednesday said Sonia Gandhi and son Rahul have been able to fill the vacuum created by the death of Rajiv Gandhi.

Addressing a function organised by the Uttar Pradesh Congress Committee here to mark the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, Singh said: “Rajiv Gandhi was an exceptional persons and he contributed a lot for the empowerment of the weaker section of our society. His death had created a vacuum. Fortunately, Sonia and Rahul have filled that vacuum.”

“Only a person who is totally committed to the nation can make an attempt like Rajiv Gandhi did to bring murderers of his mother into the mainstream,” said the HRD minister. Rajiv always took up the cause of weaker sections of society and this resulted in increased representation of women in the Panchayati Raj system, he added.

Trashing reports that the Congress lacked support within the UPA on the quota issue for the backwards, Singh said the legislation received the Cabinet’s full support and was passed unanimously in Parliament.