Former Union Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party Member of Parliament Maneka Gandhi on Wednesday described Congress President Sonia Gandhi's [Images] maut ka saudagar remark as unfortunate.

Addressing a press conference in Vadodara, Maneka supported the party's decision to project senior leader L K Advani as BJP's Prime Ministerial candidate.

"It was a right choice as Advani is a very popular leader," she said.

"Everybody wanted to know who the BJP's candidate is before the next Lok Sabha poll, that is why his name was announced. It has nothing to do with the Assembly poll in Gujarat," she said.

Her son Varun Gandhi, who was also present at the conference, said killing of hundreds of people in post-Godhra riots was condemnable, but appealed to the people to forget the past and concentrate on the development in the state.

Maneka and Varun were in the city to campaign for the BJP candidates in the second phase of polling on December 16.

Maneka laughed at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's [Images] remark that because of threat from Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi [Images], BJP had chosen Advani for the top post.

She praised the Gujarat government for the proper utilisation of Central funds for various projects.