New Delhi: The demand to make Vice President Rahul Gandhi the party's prime ministerial candidate has been raised at the Congress Working Committee meeting but the top leadership is not keep to do so, sources say. Rahul Gandhi will lead Congress's Lok Sabha election campaign with sources saying that he "at the most can be made the face of the poll campaign".
The Congress leadership is not keen on following on Bharatiya Janata Party's example which has nominated Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate. Even Rahul Gandhi is not keen to be named the party's prime ministerial candidate, sources says.
Several leaders attending the meeting at New Delhi on Thursday urged the top leadership that Rahul should be projected as the prime ministerial candidate to take on Modi. Their view was that Congress should contest the elections under Rahul Gandhi's leadership.
Congress will make the announcement on Rahul's role in the run-up to the Lok Sabha elections on Friday afternoon after the All India Congress Committee meeting.
Modi's aggressive campaigning and BJP projecting the Lok Sabha battle as a presidential election seems to have forced Congress's hand in deciding on naming a prime ministerial candidate, a first in its electoral history.
While a large section of the Congress wants him to be named the party's prime ministerial candidate, his rivals say he is not fit be a leader.
He has portrayed himself as someone who can unite the country and condemned "divisive" politics in India, saying that he would try to reduce caste and religious tensions.
The Congress might project him as its prime ministerial candidate keeping in mind:
He has an youthful image
He has no challengers within the Congress to his leadership
He is ready to accept mistakes
He made an effort to bring internal democracy in the youth Congress
He doesn't appear to hanker for power
He took a public stand against the ordinance shielding convicted MPs
The most pivotal strength is his family surname
However, the criticisms Rahul faces are:
He has been unable to deliver in key states, including UP
His administrative skills are untested
He appears raw and inexperienced in his public speeches
He has mostly remained non-communicative in the last 10 years
His poor performance in Parliament
He hasn't taken up on a sustained basis
Family surname can be a weakness at times also
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