Rahul Gandhi will be the only PM candidate in 2019: Bihar Cong

Patna, Aug 29 (PTI) Stating that the party wants RahulGandhi to lead an alternative front to challenge Narendra Modiin the general election of 2019, Bihar Congress today said hewill be the only prime ministerial candidate in the next LokSabha polls. Every Congressmen and sympathiser of the party believesthat Rahul Gandhi is the prime ministerial candidate of 2019Lok Sabha elections … He will be the only prime ministerialcandidate in the next Lok Sabha elections," Bihar Congresschief Ashok Choudhary told reporters here. Asked whether the party wants Gandhi to lead analternative front in 2019, Choudhary, also the state educationminister, said, "We certainly want Rahul Gandhi to lead afront comprising leaders like Nitish Kumar, Lalu Prasad andall other leaders having secular views." Choudhary had yesterday stirred a hornet’s nest at a jointpress conference of the ruling Grand Alliance by hisassertions on Rahul Gandhi which created an embarrassingsituation for the allies, specially JD(U). Congress’ assertion has virtually put a spanner in JD(U)’sefforts to project Kumar as prime ministerial candidate in2019. When pointed out that Kumar has been touring variousstates to expand his party’s base and to be considered as thePM candidate, Bihar Congress chief said, "Kumar is undertakingtours of various states but that does not mean that he isdoing it to become PM candidate … He (Kumar) has never saidthat he is a candidate for PM’s post." In reply to a query on why the allies – RJD and JD(U) donot want to talk on the issue, Choudhary said it was because"There is no confusion in Congress while there is utterconfusion in third front, fourth front, fifth front." PTI ARKKMNG