‘Blame will be on Rahul if Congress fails in UP’

Pawar said the Congress general secretary will have to take credit if his party wins or the blame if it loses UP polls.
(PTI file photo)
(PTI file photo)

NEW DELHI: Union Agriculture Minister Sharad Pawar has said Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi will have to take the credit if his party wins or the blame if it loses the Uttar Pradesh elections.

"If the Congress improves its position definitely credit will go to him (Gandhi)... If he doesn't succeed he has to work very hard for future. Public at large will pass the buck to him if he doesn't deliver," the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief said in a TV interview.

Pawar, a former Congress leader, whose NCP is a ruling partners in the United Progressive Alliance (UPA), said the Congress had taken a conscious decision to project Gandhi as the main star campaigner for elections.

"I have not seen his meetings. I did not have any opportunity to interact with him about the future of politics. But one thing we have to accept is that he is travelling like anything. He is addressing many meetings. How much response he is getting I don't know unless I see his one or two meetings," the minister told CNN-IBN.

Pawar refused a comment when asked about Gandhi being projected as the next prime ministerial candidate for the UPA.

"It's the decision of the Congress. The Congress is a major party. The NCP is a small party. We are not in a position to create any impact on the decision-making process of the Congress. Even after getting good results I don't know whether Congress will project him immediately... They might wait for some time... May be for the next elections."

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