Congress decision on Rahul Gandhi is final: Sonia

Congress president Sonia Gandhi Friday firmly told clamouring party leaders and activists that the decision not to field Rahul Gandhi as the prime ministerial candidate was final.

As Congress workers raised slogans at the Congress session here demanding that Rahul Gandhi be named the prime ministerial candidate, Sonia Gandhi got up and declared: "A decision was taken by the CWC yesterday, and that is final."

The Congress Working Committee, the party's highest decision making body, Thursday decided that Rahul Gandhi, the vice president, will head the 2014 election campaign.

The Congress also said Thursday that it did not have a tradition of naming a prime ministerial candidate.

Around 2,500 Congress workers and office bearers are attending the session at the Talkatora indoor stadium.

The stadium reverberated with calls of "Rahul Gandhi, Zindabad!" as the proceedings began. The slogans continued intermittently as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Finance Minister P. Chidambaram addressed the meet.

With the clamour unending, Rahul Gandhi got up to say that he will speak at 3.30 p.m. "I will talk to you about the issues you are raising."

A large poster at the venue called for Rahul Gandhi's nomination as the Congress prime ministerial nominee.