Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi will lead the party for 2014 campaign but his mother and UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi has decided that he will not be party's prime ministerial candidate.
"This meeting of CWC declares that the 2014 election campaign will be led by Rahul Gandhi," party spokesperson Janardan Dwivedi said.
While several Congress Working Committee (CWC) members were keen that Gandhi be anointed the party's prime ministerial candidate, Congress chief Sonia Gandhi intervened to say that it was not the tradition of the party to declare the candidate.
"She said Rahul Gandhi would lead the party campaign for 2014," Dwivedi told reporters after the CWC meet.
Before the meeting began, many party leaders said that the issue would be coming up at the apex policy-making body of the party and that they would be raising it.
Earlier, minister Oscar Fernandes said Rahul Gandhi is the Congress candidate for prime ministership.
"Whether he (Rahul) accepts or not, he is our prime ministerial candidate. He will certainly accept (the responsibility), this is my opinion," the Road Transport Minister told reporters here.
He also said that there is no difference of opinion among senior party leaders on it. "No, no differences... we all are very happy."
To a specific question as to how his name can be formally announced as the party's PM candidate amid different opinions in Congress on it, Fernandes, who has held key positions in party organisation for long, insisted, "It has to be done."
Union Minister Jyotiraditya Scindia also hoped that such an announcement could be made at the AICC meeting.
"I certainly hope that it will be so....I certainly believe that under his leadership Congress will certainly perform well in this election," Scindia said in reply to a question on whether Rahul's name could be announced as PM candidate in the meeting.
In last few days, there have been contradictory signals from the party with some leaders indicating that he should be named the PM candidate before the polls while few others advocating a word of caution on it.
The contradictory signals emerged even as Rahul Gandhi in a recent interview expressed his willingness to undertake any responsibility given to him by his party.
The Gandhi scion had appeared reluctant in the past to take up any responsibility in the government but ahead of the April-May Lok Sabha polls, he has said that he was a "sepoy" of the party and was willing to take up any job given to him, fuelling further speculation that he would take on Narendra Modi for the PM's post.
"I am a sepoy of Congress. I will obey whatever order is given to me. I will do whatever Congress wants me to do....
Decisions are?taken in our party by senior leaders," he had told a Hindi daily yesterday.
However, the thinking in a section of Congress is that it may be "risky" to announce his name as the PM candidate with the party facing an uphill task in the polls and if he is given that responsibility the blame would go to him in the event of Congress doing badly at the hustings.
The meeting of CWC is taking place on the eve of the AICC meeting and will finalise the draft resolution, which will be brought before the tomorrow's meet.
Besides deliberation over the party strategy for the next general elections at a time Congress appears on a downturn, the AICC meeting will also take a call on the format of the larger role for Rahul Gandhi.
The party is weighing other options such as making the Congress Vice President in-charge of the election campaign and even appointing him as Working President of the party.
However, talk of Rahul Gandhi being made the PM candidate is still making the rounds.
Those who do not favour Rahul Gandhi being made the candidate for the PM's post say that Congress does not have the tradition of naming a candidate for the PM's post ahead of the polls.
Exception was made in 2009 when party President Sonia Gandhi had, at a press conference, released a party document that showed her and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on the cover and blocked her picture to say Singh would be the candidate.
The party leadership may rely on that tradition and entrust the responsibility of campaign or that of Working President, although there is little doubt that there will be clamour at the AICC meeting to make him the PM candidate.
Rahul G: The word reluctance is not in my dictionary. Sonia G: Look at under R, because mine deifintley has, son!
Kamakaze????????? (@kamleshksingh) January 16, 2014
Umeedwar kahan se hoga? Umeed hi nahi us se kisi ko.
Nardeep Singh Dahiya (@NSDahiya) January 16, 2014
The Mere Paas Na Hai Award: Mother India shot down Baba No.1 PM candidate proposal, sources say.
Nardeep Singh Dahiya (@NSDahiya) January 16, 2014
Mama knows best, again!! Sonia says don't make Rahul Gandhi Cong PM candidate.
Vikram Kilpady (@kilpady) January 16, 2014
Sonia saying no tradition of naming PM nominee b4 polls reminds me of my mum telling her friends, "As usual Shiv hasn't studied for exams."
Shiv Aroor (@ShivAroor) January 16, 2014
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