Cong leaders demanding Rahul as PM candidate snubbed

Rahul Gandhi today snubbed Uttarakhand Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna after he demanded that the Congress Vice President be soon declared the Prime Ministerial candidate of the party.

Reminding Bahuguna that Prime Minister Manmohan Singh is already in at the helm, Gandhi told the Chief Minister that the problem is not about PM candidate but related to party organisation, which needs to be addressed first, sources said.

"I do not want to hear such a thing again," an incensed Congress Vice President was quoted as saying while interacting with the PCC chiefs and the CLP leaders here during the two-day meet that concluded today.

Bahuguna's suggestion was instantly greeted by several PCC chiefs and CLP leaders but they went silent realising that it has not gone down well with the leader.

Despite the overwhelming demand from the partymen that Gandhi be declared PM candidate, the party has refrained from doing so saying the decision on this issue will be taken at a later stage.

In 2008, the Congress had declared incumbent Manmohan Singh as Prime Ministerial candidate for the last Lok Sabha polls.

The meeting also saw Gandhi taking a dig at the party leaders aspiring to be Chief Ministerial candidates in various states saying "there were 200 CM candidates in Uttar Pradesh. There are even candidates for the UN Secretary General there."

Congress had secured only 28 seats out of a total of 403 in the Assembly elections last year in Uttar Pradesh, which had come as a rude jolt for the party which had secured as many as 22 of the 80 seats in the Lok Sabha polls in 2009. Congress is out of power in the state since 1989.