New Delhi: Senior leader of Congress Digvijay Singh hinted today that party will not declare Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Digvijay Singh today said in an interview, “We do not have a presidential form of government. Congress party does not declare PM or CM candidates before elections. Even in the Karnataka Assembly elections, we had not declared any CM candidate.”
Digvijay Singh also gave indications that the Congress was not averse to doing business with the Left after the next elections and apprehended that the advent of Modi could lead to communal polarisation in the polls.
Singh also commented over the elevation of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as chief of campaign committee, Singh said, “We are not concerned. It is not an issue with us. BJP is free to take any decision. We are in the politics of ideology and not personality. Congress party does not believe in the politics of polarization.”
Singh said, “It is not Modi. It is the ideology of the Sangh and the BJP which believes in divisive politics. Politics of hatred and violence based on religious lines, which is the challenge.”
Singh sidestepped a query on whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could again be Congress’ PM candidate. He added, “My own perception is that with Left, we know the parameters in which we work together. It is easier to work with the Left because we know the parameters in which they work.”
He also said that the fact remains that RJD chief Lalu Prasad was supporting the Congress President and the Congress even before 2004.
Singh also clear about the campaign theme for 2014 election and said, “Our campaign theme will be on the basis of the work done in the last ten years and the work we will be doing in the next five years.”
“UPA-II has managed to give a sustained growth even in the worst economic crisis the world is facing. UPA pumped more money in lot of development schemes that led to high spending in rural areas,” Singh said.
Bureau Report
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