TNCC president B.S. Gnanadesikan has urged the All India Congress Committee (AICC) to announce Rahul Gandhi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate, saying it was the wish of Congressmen across the country.
“Prime Minister Manmohan Singh himself has backed Mr. Gandhi’s candidature as he has outstanding credentials. The AICC, in its meeting, should formally announce Mr. Gandhi as the party’s Prime Ministerial candidate,” Mr. Gnanadesikan told reporters at Sathyamurthy Bhavan here on Friday.
The question of projecting Dr. Singh as Prime Ministerial candidate did not arise as he himself had opted out of the race.
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Rejecting allegations that the Centre was facilitating a meeting between fishermen of Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu with an eye on the forthcoming elections, Mr. Gnanadesikan said the demand for the meeting was there for more than a year.
On BJP’s decision to launch it election campaign with a call to retrieve Katchatheevu, Mr. Gnanadesikan said the BJP was raising the issue only for political motives as Katchatheevu had nothing to do with fishermen’s problem.