New Delhi:
The Congress will not declare Rahul Gandhi as its prime ministerial candidate in the Lok Sabha elections, senior party leader Digvijaya Singh hinted on Friday, while dismissing suggestions that BJP's projection of Narendra Modi is a challenge to it.
He also did not say whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could be a candidate for the top post once again if the party wins next year's elections.
"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," Mr Singh told PTI in an interview.
He was replying to questions on why Congress was diffident about projecting Mr Gandhi as the face for the top post, why it should not project him and who the prime ministerial candidate of Congress is.
Mr 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 Mr Modi could lead to communal polarisation in the polls.
Asked about BJP's elevation of Mr Modi as its election campaign chief, which many say is just a step short of announcing him the prime ministerial candidate, Mr 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 polarisation."
Asked whether Congress treats Mr Modi as a political challenge and about Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's comments that the Gujarat Chief Minister presented managerial and ideological challenge to the party, Mr Singh said, "The very name of Modi and before that of LK Advani give an impression of polarisation.
"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," he said.
The senior Congress leader sidestepped a query on whether Dr Manmohan Singh could again be Congress' PM candidate. "First the country has to give us a mandate again and then the Parliamentary Party and the party chief have to take a decision in consultation with elected MPs," he said.
He also did not say whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh could be a candidate for the top post once again if the party wins next year's elections.
"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," Mr Singh told PTI in an interview.
He was replying to questions on why Congress was diffident about projecting Mr Gandhi as the face for the top post, why it should not project him and who the prime ministerial candidate of Congress is.
Mr 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 Mr Modi could lead to communal polarisation in the polls.
Asked about BJP's elevation of Mr Modi as its election campaign chief, which many say is just a step short of announcing him the prime ministerial candidate, Mr 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 polarisation."
Asked whether Congress treats Mr Modi as a political challenge and about Union Minister Jairam Ramesh's comments that the Gujarat Chief Minister presented managerial and ideological challenge to the party, Mr Singh said, "The very name of Modi and before that of LK Advani give an impression of polarisation.
"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," he said.
The senior Congress leader sidestepped a query on whether Dr Manmohan Singh could again be Congress' PM candidate. "First the country has to give us a mandate again and then the Parliamentary Party and the party chief have to take a decision in consultation with elected MPs," he said.
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