【New Delhi】The Congress on Thursday decided party vice-president Rahul Gandhi would not be named its prime ministerial candidate in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections. A Congress Working Committee (CWC) resolution said Gandhi would lead the party's campaign for the polls.
Earlier in the day, Union minister Jairam Ramesh proposed that Gandhi be named the Congress' prime ministerial candidate. A majority of CWC members backed the idea but Congress President Sonia Gandhi decisively rejected the demand, saying the Congress had never named a nominee for the top job before polls.
With Thursday's decision, the party also put to rest the speculation that this year's elections might be a contest between Rahul Gandhi and Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP's) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi following Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's announcement on January 3 that he would not be the party's candidate for a third time. And the decision effectively means that the Congress is keen to avoid a Rahul versus Modi face-off in the elections, particularly as the BJP leader has a head-start having been declared prime ministerial candidate in September.
【News source】
Rahul Gandhi not to be named Cong's PM candidate
Congress not to project Rahul as its PM candidate
Congress not to name Rahul as PM candidate
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