DHAKA: Ahead of the crucial AICC session on Friday, India minister Oscar Fernandes said Rahul Gandhi is Congress candidate for prime minister even as suspense remains on whether the party will formally anoint him as PM nominee for the Lok Sabha polls.

‘Whether he (Rahul) accepts or not, he is our prime ministerial candidate. He will certainly accept (the responsibility), this is my opinion,’ the road transport minister told reporters, according to The Times of India.

‘Wait till tomorrow,’ Fernandes said when asked whether the announcement of Rahul Gandhi’s candidature for the top post will be made tomorrow.

He also said that there is no difference of opinion among senior party leaders on it.

‘No, no differences... we all are very happy.’

To a specific question as to how his name can be formally announced as the party’s PM candidate amid different opinions in Congress on it, Fernades, who has held key positions in party organisation for long, insisted, ‘It has to be done’.

The remarks of the senior party leader are significant as they come on a day when Congress working committee is meeting to take a final view on the issue ahead of the AICC meeting tomorrow.

BDST: 1812 HRS, JAN 16, 2014
Edited by Robab Rosan, Current Affairs Editor