Ranchi, Feb 7 (PTI): Rahul Gandhi today said he was ready to accept the post of Prime Minister if the Congress MPs elect him in the event of the party and its allies getting a majority in the upcoming Lok Sabha elections.

Gandhi also said he would not like to be projected as Congress' prime ministerial candidate as it would be unconstitutional and also that the party doesn’t usually announce its PM nominee ahead of the elections. The elections are due by May.

The Congress Vice President expressed these views during an interaction with a select group of people here during when some senior Jharkand PCC leaders were present.

A PCC leader, who did not want to be identified, quoted Gandhi as having said that if the MPs of Congress and its allies get elected in majority and if they chose him for the post of prime minister he would accept it.

Gandhi, who has been put incharge of Congress' poll campaign for the Lok Sabha elections, told his audience that he had publicly said at the recent AICC meeting that he was a soldier of the party.

Replying to queries on why the Congress was hesitant in projecting him as the party's prime ministerial candidate, he is reported to have said that doing so before polls was unconstitutional.

The PCC leader said Rahul disagreed with a questioner that Government accepting his demand for increase in the quota of subsidised gas cylinders from 9 to 12 and withdrawing an Ordinance that protected convicted legislators after his outburst indicated he was the party’s PM choice.

Rahul said whatever he has done is based on the feedback he got from party workers.

He was also quoted as having said that the Congress and RJD are still in discussions about forging an alliance and that nothing has been decided yet. At the same time, he said there is a need to stop the communal forces.

The PCC leader said Rahul agreed with a questioner that there was lack of discipline in the Congress in some states and also informed he was working to set up a structure in the party to infuse discipline.

To a query about a 'high command culture' in Congress, the PCC leader said Rahul replied that he refers all issues to PCC chiefs for solutions in their respective states.

Gandhi was also quoted as having said he was in favour of more empowerment of the women.
When told that people on the ground hardly knew about existence of the Right to Information(RTI) Act, he came with a counter asking whether it should be scrapped. He also favoured passing of some more people-friendly bills.

During his day-long visit to Jharkand, Gandhi interacted with tribal women and people from the minority communities and with some other groups.