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Priyanka may contest election, says Azad

The Congress may put up Priyanka Gandhi as a candidate in the Lok Sabha election, All-India Congress Committee general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad said in Calcutta today.

Azad said there is a strong demand from among Congressmen, especially the youth, to bring Priyanka Gandhi into the poll arena and "the party sees no harm in it".

He, however, said the party is yet to take a decision on the matter.

Azad's statement on the candidature of party president Sonia Gandhi's daughter is perhaps the first from any senior AICC office-bearer after reports began appearing in the media speculating about such a possibility.

Azad, who is in charge of the West Bengal and Karnataka units of the party, met Congress Legislature Party members to assess the pre-poll scenario in the Communist-ruled state.

He told reporters that the party would not forge any alliance at the national level as it is confident of fighting the election on its own. "We are capable of securing the required number in the Lok Sabha to form the government," he asserted.

But as in the past, the party would leave open the option for alliances and seat adjustments with any other party at the state levels if the respective units found it necessary, he said.

Azad said the main plank of the Congress in the election would be stability and a mandate for one party.

Pointing out that all the coalition governments in the country had collapsed, he said the Congress would try to convince the people to vote for a strong, single-party government.

UNI

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