Senior Congress leader and former Union minister P. Chidambaram said the party has not projected its president Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate ahead of the upcoming general elections.
The former finance minister, speaking to a TV channel, claimed that the party never said it wanted Rahul Gandhi to be the prime minister. He further said when a few Congress activists indulged in such talks, the AICC intervened and stopped those discussions.
Noting that all the Congress wants is to oust the BJP from power, Chidambaram said the grand old party and its alliance partners will take a call on the prime ministerial post after the elections.
He also admitted that the increasing influence of regional players has reduced the vote shares of both the Congress and the BJP.
He further said the Congress wants to see an "alternative government which is progressive, respects freedom of individuals, doesn’t indulge in tax terrorism, gives protection to women and children, and uplifts farmers".
Chidambaram, who heads the party's manifesto committee, also accused the Narendra Modi-led Union government of resorting to “threatening tactics” to prevent the regional parties from forming an alliance with the Congress.
Earlier this month, Rahul Gandhi had said he will become prime minister if his allies wished so, but the first step was for all parties to get together and defeat the saffron party.
"We have had discussions with allies and we decided that this is a two-stage process. Stage one is to get together and defeat the BJP; once the election is over, we will decide what happens," the Congress president had said.
In August this year, during an interaction with the Indian Journalists Association in London, the Congress chief had downplayed his prime ministerial ambitions saying he does not have "visions of being a PM".
