Priyanka's decision to not contest polls voluntary: Sam Pitroda

Sam Pitroda, advisor to former prime minister Manmohan Singh, said at a press conference here on Friday that Congress president Rahul Gandhi had left the final decision of contesting election to Priyanka Gandhi herself.

"The party president had given the final decision on contesting elections to Priyanka ji. The decision to not contest is her own. She thought that she has many responsibilities, and rather than contesting from one seat, she should focus on the larger job at hand," he said.

Earlier speculations were rife that Priyanka may contest election against Prime Minister Narendra Modi from the Varanasi parliamentary constituency. She had said that if her party president wanted, she would contest from Varanasi. Congress, however, defended its decision to field Ajay Rai on the seat instead of Priyanka.

Three phases of elections are now over in Uttar Pradesh with four phases remaining on April 29, May 6, 12 and 19. The counting of votes will be done on May 23.