Jaipur: Congress leader Sam Pitroda Friday said it was party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s own decision not to contest against Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the Varanasi Lok Sabha seat.
Speculation over Priyanka Gandhi’s electoral debut from Modi’s constituency ended Thursday when the Congress fielded Ajay Rai, a political lightweight, from the Uttar Pradesh constituency. Finance Minister Arun Jaitley then took a dig at the Congress, claiming that Priyanka Gandhi had “quietly chickened out” of the contest.
“The party president had left the final decision on her,” Pitroda said when reporters asked him about Rahul Gandhi not fielding his sister from the high-profile constituency. “She decided that she has several responsibilities.
She decided that rather than concentrating on one seat, she should focus on the job she has at hand,” Pitroda, who heads the Indian Overseas Congress, said. “So that decision was finally hers and she decided it,” he said. Speculation over a Priyanka Gandhi-Modi face-off was triggered last month when the Congress leader in charge of eastern Uttar Pradesh herself hinted at the possibility. Answering questions from reporters, Priyanka Gandhi has said she would contest if the party asked her.
When questioned on the speculation, Congress president Rahul Gandhi recently said, “I will leave you in suspense. Suspense is not always a bad thing.”
Meanwhile, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Thursday took a swipe at the Congress over party leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra not contesting against Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Varanasi and said she has “chickened out” and the country has been denied the opportunity to see that “it does not accept inexperienced dynasts with no other credentials”.
In a blog post “Refuge in Wayanad and a Refuge Away From Varanasi – The Story of a Family Dynasty”, Jaitley said .
The first, he said, was the “huge road show” of Modi at Varanasi and the second was “surreptitious announcement” by the Congress of fielding “a political lightweight” against the BJP stalwart. “The build-up of the last two weeks had been that Priyanka Gandhi would be fielded against the Prime Minister,” Jaitley said. (Agencies)
