New Delhi, Dec 11 (FP): After being handed a drubbing in four state Assembly elections, Congress President Sonia Gandhi had announced that her party would go back to the drawing board and 'introspect' on what really went wrong.

When pressed by media persons on whether it was time the Congress names its prime ministerial candidate, Gandhi, in a significant remark, said the party would name the PM candidate at an opportune time.

“People need not worry as at an opportune time the name of the prime ministerial candidate will be announced,” Gandhi told reporters outside 24, Akbar Road, the Congress party headquarters in New Delhi.

If the Congress party does name a prime ministerial candidate, it would be a paradigm shift from the party's stand of naming its prime minister only after securing a majority in the House.

But following that remark by Gandhi, speculation is now rife that technocrat and Infosys co-founder Nandan Nilekani could be the Congress's Prime Ministerial candidate.

The move, however, is unlikely to be supported by veteran Congress leaders and loyalists such as AK Antony and Sushilkumar Shinde, who could also be potential PM candidates.

But Nilekani, an entrepreneur and chairman of the Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI), is reportedly known to have good links with the Gandhi family.

Speaking to the Times of India, Nilekani denied any such move, saying it was complete rubbish.

"Complete rubbish. This must be a figment of someone's over-active imagination," Nilekani told the Times of India.

But this is not the first time Nilekani's name has popped up as a potential Congressman. In September this year, sources had told Network18 that the Congress may field Nilekani from Bangalore South. Currently, senior BJP leader Ananth Kumar is the MP from the constituency.

In an article on business daily Mint, Anil Padmanabhan had argued that having Nilekani enter politics could work well for the Congress and also mark a significant shift in the political arena.