Nandan Nilekani as PM candidate? Congress dismisses talk as `hypothetical`

Congress rejected as "hypothetical" talk of Nandan Nilekani being made the party`s PM candidate.

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Congress on Wednesday rejected as "hypothetical" talk of Nandan Nilekani being made the party`s PM candidate. Refusing to comment on rumours doing the rounds that Nilekani would be chosen as the Congress CM candidate, AICC spokesman Sandeep Dikshit at the party briefing said: "I am not privy to the information whether Nilekani is being considered or not considered... I don`t know the sources of the information... Right now, it is hypothetical." On Wednesday, Janata Dal (United) MP Shivanand Tiwari had said naming Nilekani could be suicidal for Congress. Nandan Nilekani is the chairman of Unique Identification Authority of India. Congress president Sonia Gandhi`s remarks on the party`s prime ministerial candidate generated speculation on Sunday night on whether her son and party vice president Rahul Gandhi would be named for the top job. Dikshit also refused to comment if Rahul could be named the PM candidate. "I can say with confidence that whoever the high command decides would be among the best and one who is competent to lead." In September, reports had claimed that Nilekani would join the Congress party and contest the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. According to reports, billionaire Nilekani, the cofounder of outsourcer Infosys, could contest the 2014 Lok Sabha polls on a Congress ticket from Bangalore South, Karnataka, his home state.