JOIN USA day after he said Rahul Gandhi will lead the poll campaigns in the run up to 2014 general elections, Congress spokesperson P C Chacko on Monday ate his words when he said no decision has been taken in this regard.
“I did not mean any decision was taken in this regard when I said Rahul Gandhi will be leading the next election campaign,” Chacko said. He further clarified that the role of Rahul will be decided by Rahul himself and the Congress president Sonia Gandhi “at an appropriate time."
At a press conference on Monday, the spokesperson has said that Rahul will lead the election campaign. “The party is overwhelmingly in favour of Rahul Gandhi taking a larger responsibility... (Earlier,) he was not willing. Now, he has agreed to it,” he had said.
He explained that his remarks were in response to questions by media persons and these should not be interpreted as a decision taken by the party.
While this indicates that the Congress is keen on maintaining the ambiguity over the issue, it is interesting that the event comes days after Sonia Gandhi’s political secretary Ahmed Patel told a news channel that Rahul Gandhi is “Number 2” in the party and will lead poll campaign in 2014.
“Congress is clear on the suitability and capability of party general secretary Rahul Gandhi for the post of Prime Minister. Senior and young party leaders have been projecting him for this post,” Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde had said while addressing a public meeting at Vadodara in poll-bound Gujarat on Sunday. Rahul has been a primary choice of many Congress leaders for the post of Prime Minister but the party is reluctant to declare him as its next prime ministerial candidate.