Cong has never announced its Prime Ministerial candidate before elections: Chidambaram
Madurai, Apr 6 : Senior Congress leader and former Union Minister P Chidambaram on Saturday said that the Congress party has never announced its Prime Ministerial candidate before the Parliamentary elections.
“There was no rule that the PM candidate should be announced before the elections,” he told the media when asked to comment on Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Edappadi K Palaniswami’s remarks that there was no clarity from the Congress on its PM candidate.
Mr Palaniswami during his ongoing election campaigns said while Narendra Modi is NDA’s PM candidate, there was no clarity from the Congress.
Chidambaram said Morarji Desai, VP Singh and HDDeva Gowda were elected PMs only after the elections.
Referring to a query from the scribes that Congress had not got a majority to form a government on its own on those occasions, he said that his party has never announced its PM candidate before elections.
He further said he have been in the Congress for about 50 years and in no election- has the party in its manifesto or through announcements, identified anyone as PM candidate.
He recalled that late Chief Minister Jayalalitha too had not divulged in her party manifesto the name of the PM candidate from AIADMK in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections.
Jayalalitha only raised the question whether it was “Modi or Lady.” However, the AIADMK party now has turn aside from the path of Jayalalitha.
Reacting to the AIADMK’s praise that only Mr Modi could be an able PM, Chidambaram said people only should say that.
He also denied the BJP charges that the country has not seen any development under the fifty year rule of the Congress. (Agency)