New Delhi: Asking speculators not to make any hasty judgement, the Congress party has dismissed the reports that vice-president Rahul Gandhi would be projected as the chief ministerial candidate in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh and that the Gandhi scion is the ‘leader of the country’.
"All discussions with regard to Uttar Pradesh will be done by Congress Working Committee and the leadership. The Congress Vice President, along with the Congress President leads the party all over the country," party spokesman Jyotiraditya Scindia told reporter on Tuesday.
Scindia was reacting to reports of party poll strategist Prashant Kishor's suggestion that Rahul Gandhi be made Congress' face in the 2017 Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections.
He also said that the strategy for Uttar Pradesh, where Assembly polls are due next year, would be decided soon.
Yesterday, senior party leader Jairam Ramesh had said that Congress expected Rahul to take over as party chief during the current year.
When Rahul Gandhi himself was asked about Kishor's suggestion, he smiled and told reporters, “What do I know, you people put out such news, so you should know (Mujhe kya pata, aap hi log khabar chalate ho, aap hi log jano).”
Incidentally, Kishor’s recommendation has not been officially condemned nor has he been censured by the party, leading many to believe that this was part of the ‘tactics’ being used by Kishor.
As per party sources, there are likely to be changes in the Uttar Pradesh Congress this month. Nirmal Khatri is the PCC chief while Pradip Mathur is the CLP leader.
Congress has been in political wilderness in Uttar Prdaesh since 1989, which saw the emergence of Mayawati-led BSP and rise of issues like 'Mandir and Mandal'. The party has been reduced to a marginal force in the state where it was in power for a long time after independence.
According to reports, Rahul Gandhi's supporters are pitching for his takeover as party chief sooner than later.
He was made the party vice president at the Jaipur Chintan shivir in January 2013.
