Rahul is the natural leader of Cong, will contest polls under him: Tewari

New Delhi: Calling Rahul Gandhi the natural leader of Congress, Union Minister Manish Tewari on Tuesday said that partymen want to contest the upcoming Lok Sabha elections under his leadership.

Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi. Reuters

"We have repeatedly and consistently said that he is the natural leader of the Congress party and we would want that we contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections under his leadership," the Information and Broadcasting Minister told reporters in New Delhi.

"However who should be given what responsibility is a decision which is taken by Congress President Sonia Gandhi after due consideration and consultations with everyone," he said.

Tewari was replying to a question regarding an interview given by the Congress vice president in which he said that he was ready for any role that the party would give him. There has been speculation over whether Congress would declare Rahul Gandhi as its Prime Ministerial candidate.

To a remark of Rahul Gandhi that emperors Ashoka and Akbar had united the country while Aurangzeb had done the opposite was an indirect attack on Narendra Modi, Tewari said, "There is no need to be indirect. The politics of the respectable Gujarat Chief Minister has been narrow, communal and divisive.

"What happened in 2002 in Gujarat is not hidden from anyone. Instead of taking moral responsibility, the way he has tried to give justifications shows that he doesn't believe in either secularism or the idea of India."

He said that comments of Rahul Gandhi were appropriate in this context as the country did not move on narrow-mindedness but on an inclusive, wider thought.

Meanwhile, Union Minister Krishna Tirath dismissed a poll survey which predicted a Congress rout in the Lok Sabha polls in Delhi, saying the voters would not commit the same "mistake" they made in voting for AAP in the Assembly elections.

"We have faith in the voters and they have trust in Congress. The mistake they committed once...people are realising that AAP has failed to implement its promises and they will be unable to fulfill them," she told reporters on the sidelines of a programme here.

Asserting that Congress will perform well in the Lok Sabha polls under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi, she said her party will carry out all the reforms in the larger interest of the country.

PTI