Jammu: Setting the record straight on the party's Prime Ministerial candidate, senior leader Manmohan Singh today (April 18, 2004) said if Congress gets a majority in the coming Lok Sabha polls, Sonia Gandhi will be the automatic choice for the Prime Ministership.

"Sonia Gandhi will definitely be the Prime Minister if we get majority in the polls. In case Congress and its allies get majority, we will sit together and decide the candidate," Singh told reporters.

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Political Parties in India

Asked if there was any hesitation on part of Congress in deciding its Prime Ministerial candidate, he said, "There is no truth in it. We have already decided on the matter."

To a question, Singh said he was not a Prime Ministerial candidate for Congress as well as its allies.

Charging Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee with putting pressure on legal luminary Ram Jethmalani to opt out of contest from the Lucknow Lok Sabha seat, he said it was unheard of that a person like the PM could do this.

Referring to PM's Lucknow constituency, Singh said the city lagged behind in terms of development, having a literacy rate of 42 per cent against the average of 62 per cent.