New Delhi, March 11 (IANS): The Congress has rejected the "young versus old" rift in the party and said it was a blend of youth and seniors.

Stating that the party has always nurtured young leaders according to their calibre and contribution, senior Congress leader Anand Sharma said, here on Wednesday, leaders like him were in the party since student days.

On frustration among young leaders, Sharma said it was a "fabrication". "There is no young or old leaders. We represent the composition of Indian society. In politics, people come up due to their merit, contribution and acceptance," he said.

Slamming the media, the Congress leader said it was not employment "where you have to produce your date of birth. It's trivializing and oversimplifying politics. It's not healthy for democracy."

Also, there couldn't be different yardsticks for the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), he added.

He also slammed the BJP for destabilising the Madhya Pradesh government. "The BJP is the ruling party at the Centre. It's expected to follow certain norms. But it is seriously involved in poaching MLAs. It happened in Karnataka. It stole governments in Manipur, Arunachal and Goa," the Congress leader said.

"Why is the BJP intolerant to opposition governments in states," Sharma raised the question.